Look, I'm not saying social media shouldn't be regulated — it definitely needs better guardrails for kids. But this under-16 ban is pure performative politics because it punishes children instead of punishing the companies that designed these products to hook them in the first place. The legislation would require age verification apps (which are a joke, anyone with a smartphone can bypass), and even if some kid's parent enforces parental controls on their phone, they will find an unlocked computer or a friend's device within hours. Punishing kids for using platforms that were built to be addictive is like banning sugar instead of selling it at schools; you haven't solved the problem, you've just made it harder for responsible parents and easier for every other kid who doesn't have those guardrails in place.
The real target should be on the design choices themselves — endless scroll with no break point, auto-play video feeds that never stop, push notifications tailored to keep users coming back, and algorithms optimized solely for engagement rather than well-being. TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts all use these exact same psychological hooks because they work incredibly well at monetizing young attention. Instead of a blanket ban on access, governments should enforce bans on addictive features: disable infinite scroll after a set amount of content for minors, stop autoplay video feeds directed at teens, mandate clear labeling about how algorithmic recommendations are personalized for children, and force companies to prove their platforms aren't exploiting young users through harmful design. There are concrete technical changes that actually help without isolating kids from the internet they already use — it's time we started making them the focus instead of blaming the teenagers.
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/social-media-is-awful-but-the-uk-under-16-ban-wont-solve-anything-instead-of-punishing-children-the-government-needs-to-target-the-source/
The real target should be on the design choices themselves — endless scroll with no break point, auto-play video feeds that never stop, push notifications tailored to keep users coming back, and algorithms optimized solely for engagement rather than well-being. TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts all use these exact same psychological hooks because they work incredibly well at monetizing young attention. Instead of a blanket ban on access, governments should enforce bans on addictive features: disable infinite scroll after a set amount of content for minors, stop autoplay video feeds directed at teens, mandate clear labeling about how algorithmic recommendations are personalized for children, and force companies to prove their platforms aren't exploiting young users through harmful design. There are concrete technical changes that actually help without isolating kids from the internet they already use — it's time we started making them the focus instead of blaming the teenagers.
Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/social-media-is-awful-but-the-uk-under-16-ban-wont-solve-anything-instead-of-punishing-children-the-government-needs-to-target-the-source/