Maybe parents should treat it like the real world and not leave their kids unnatended in it? It’s literally full of malicious people and scams
Imagine if we applied that to the real world, the idea that every single place has to be safe for unattended children to visit and not get hurt in any way, physically or mentally.
I mean we don’t usually allow children to walk around by themselves. They need guidance and mentoring. Its no different online.
Giving your kid tech is like giving them the keys to the liquor cabinet because its a constant stream of dopamine on a young brain that hasn’t developed yet.
I dont know where you’re from, but letting kids walk around by themselves is absolutely normal. And important for them. Usually you just tell them to be home before the sun sets.
Except children DO walk by themselves if they’re at least in primary school. You don’t accompany your kid from doorstep to doorstep every time they go to the school, store or extracurricular. You teach the kid how to be on the street safely, where they can and cannot go, and periodically call them on the phone to check if everything’s alright. Same with the internet: the parent’s job is to TEACH and let the child know for sure where the potential danger is.
Usually with online censorship it is also not just about real harm but any harm some major group believes will harm the children even if there is research or at least evidence to the contrary. Meanwhile they usually ignore any harm done by de-anonymizing the users or the potential for censorship of materials of different kinds once the mechanisms are in place.
Yeah they should also know the internet isn’t a dump truck and just say no to drugs
I’m surprised by the number of people ITT arguing for censorship who clearly havent read the article
KOSA will compel even the smallest online forums to take action against content that politicians believe will cause minors “anxiety,” “depression,” or encourage substance abuse, among other behaviors. Of course, almost any content could easily fit into these categories—in particular, truthful news about what’s going on in the world, including wars, gun violence, and climate change. Kids don’t need to fall into a wormhole of internet content to get anxious; they could see a newspaper on the breakfast table.
The world is depressing, but we won’t fix this world by shielding children from the reality of climate change and war. In fact, we need them to be aware of these issues, or history will repeat itself.
Censorship is not the solution.
I signed up for EFF newsletters when they were fighting the V-chip and DMCA. I was a teenager and couldn’t suss out all the legal language in their letters. I was always unsure if I was supporting the good-guys or the bad-guys.
EFF are the good-guys. We need them fighting for our rights online. Thank you, EFF, for standing up for us. And fuck the politicians who keep trying to strip them away, either through ignorance of tech or by deliberately trying to control us.
Kid’s online safety doesn’t requite massive online censorship and surveillance…
It’s just that the alternative is active parenting, and that’s unrealistic or infeasible for the average wage slave
It doesn’t require any of that
There are so many useful tools for parents to take care of this. Those who do not feel comfortable need to become informed. Imagine if every parent who didn’t like the idea of teenagers driving a car refused to teach their kids how to live around cars and streets.
Parenting is a lot of work, but that’s the game folks. Prohibition culture doesn’t work and the government can only do so much. At some point you have to step in and be a parent, because the Internet is part of our lives for better or for worse. The best you can do is teach your kids how to navigate responsibly, protect themselves, and come to you when they don’t understand something/see something potentially traumatic. Because they will lol.
To be fair, I think it does, I just value the privacy of literally every internet user over the mild consequences faced by most about children. You have to break some eggs sometimes, and it’s better the children draw the short stick rather than everyone else.
You should simply not use invasive tools for monitoring children. There are private alternatives.
Also I would be careful just giving a child a device. It sends the wrong message and if you are monitoring it all the time it teaches them its ok to be watched.
Ehhhhh I value privacy as well, but I’m not sure I am so blasé about unrestricted access for minors. I just think that’s more the domain of parents - with some government oversight, of course, but not nearly to the extent they want. And definitely not via the methods these bills are pushing.
