Florida to ban under 16 yr olds from social media

Social media is terrible for kids mental health. So anything that will help even a proportion of kids is better than nothing.

Anything similar about guns?

I doubt this can be policed much. Too many ways around it, but optics and elections....

Better to try and do something to mitigate the effect social media has on kids than do nothing. Of course some kids will figure out a work around but this coupled with good parenting will hopefully at least help some kids.

The Orwellian comment in the OP was interesting as I always though social media and how devices are listening and influencing what you see and think is very much like the screens in 1984. Getting rid of social media while it maybe considered a nanny state action is a move away from the Orwellian intrusion into all aspects of peoples lives and how they think in my opinion, although, admittedly I haven't put much thought into it.

Better get on a return boat to Cuba.

The damage done to 66 year olds is worse because they will vote based on what they're told, which affects everyone.

When the are less likely to bully other kids online, when they are less susceptible to body dysmorphia issues, when they are finished secondary school studies, after they are trained to recognise the huge dopamine mind **** addiction that social media is, and that it's not some kind of nirvana, but a cess pit of consumerism, egotism, time wasting hell.

The creators of social media know this, the governments know this, but, hey, the economy.

16 sounds good, but 18 would be better. For the smart kids, never, stick it in read only mode and have a laugh at it now and again. Like some kind of ant farm for humans.

No. Not as much as old people.

My number of 66 was a bit random but I think adults can be seriously negatively effected, all you have to do is look at January 6th to see the brain worms that be spread.

Social media is a scourge (the irony of posting this on a social media site). The instant rage bait dopamine releasing hypersexualsied overtly violent shite that floats around with doom scrolling being forced as the default method of ingesting it is possibly one of the most destructive inventions of mankind. Utilising the internet, probably the greatest invention of mankind.

If social media were to be banned or heavily regulated not a tear I would shed.

It's already at 13 years old for most social media, 16 is too high, 14 a compromise, this bill is aimed at social media platforms, not individuals, rules are already in play at 13 years old, but none of the social media platforms police it, they allow anyone to sign up simply by filling in a different age at sign up.

What books and social media are banned?

Social media is an awful thing for kids. Like really bad. That's what should be labeled a "disgusting cesspit". Sure look at the latest craze, 10 year olds spending $$$ on skincare products they don't need and can damage their skin, all because they've seen it on tiktok. And thats tame in comparison to some of the **** they're exposed to. For example

Anything to deter younger kids from joining can't be bad. It's hardly "banning" it, just setting a minimum age. This won't do anything anyway, most companies already have minimum ages which are completely ignored by loads of kids/parents.

Reminds me of that song back in the day “Tweet 16”……oh damn - it’s “X16” now….

Well done Florida. This is definitely a step in the right direction. Proper leadership.

Are there far more serious issues affecting teenagers? Like what?

There were about 7200 teen suicides in 2022 compared to 1300 gun murders. Suicide is a huge issue and social media drives a large part of it. Suicide is the second leading cause of death behind

I didn't actually thing people would argue against protecting children from social media during their forming years.

I already said I have no real issue with it. Although I'm not sure if you can definitively say social media is the driving force and the research says similar.

Haha good luck with that.

None. In the last 20 years, both male and female suicide rates among young adults have increased significantly, 60%.

Studies show that social media has a negative impact on the mental health of teenagers. There isn't enough data yet to show the full effect of social media on teenagers. But then the question is do you take actions to prevent that rate of suicide increasing or do you wait for the data and then take action.

Is that because you yourself base your vote on what you read on social media or are you basing your believe that over 66 year olds base their vote on what they read on social media because of what you read on social media? Or is just that you think everyone over 66 is stupid?

No, based on studies.

Why don't they introduce a social media license.

To obtain one you'd have to do a test to show you can tell the difference between real and fake news.

As much as they care.

I can't see them doing this.

Why bring it up, then? What's the point of raising the subject if it has no relevance to the topic? If someone said the number of sexual assaults had trebled since the year X and I then chimed in with stats about the number of red haired children born since then, people would want to know what point I'm trying to make.

Nice graph. Has there been anything else occurring over the past number of years that might have affected kids' mental health negatively? No, nothing comes to mind? Must be social media, then. Couldn't possibly be the fact that the world is burning, we're poisoning the planet, the pandemic, the realistic chances of owning your own home disappearing and a whole host of other independent yet related issues, no? Must be tiktok, so.

This Maude Flanders, hand-wringing hyperbole does nobody any favours. I'm shocked that you're so familiar with the phone habits of so many 8-10 year olds. How many do you hang around with all day and how do you know it's social media they're watching? Are you looking over their shoulders? And how do you know their parents aren't monitoring their usage? What's that? You don't know? You're just making up soundbites out of thin air to dress up your authoritarian stance to make it seem more palatable? I mean, who'd argue against kids

Bingo.

They like 'em dumb, over in 'Merica. And in Florida, they like 'em even dumber and Republican. Social Media is left-leaning for the most part. They don't want no more lefties, in their ideal world women would be barefoot and chained to the stove/bed, pumping out enough cross-eyed crotch goblins so they can join the military and invade [insert land full of brown people here] under some false pretense. Fattening the pockets of themselves, their family/friends and their benefactors is all they care about.

It's also about control. Land of the free, my hole. I break my bollocks laughing every time I hear someone say it. "We gots 45 different types of milk, and only two political parties. I can pick from two hunnert and fifty brands of 'tater chips, but I hafta use that horspital over there because my health insurance says so. All the fast food you can shake a stick at, but if you ain't no god-fearing bible basher, you cain't hold public office in 7 states".