If you haven’t heard, a lot of Western governments are currently monitoring Australia with rapt attention to see how its policy on banning social media for kids pans out. After a few months, we can say, not so good.
A recent study showed that two-thirds of those minors still had access to their accounts weeks after the national ban. Meta, obviously a key player in enforcing the ban, has spoken of the scale of the challenge and of the potential dangers that the ban could pose, too.
Of course, you might say that it is unsurprising that Meta would warn of – or even exaggerate – the dangers of something that impacts its business model, yet there are real fears that the best intentions can lead to unintended consequences. For example, if a tech-savvy Australian kid can’t get online to socialize on Instagram or TikTok, it follows that they might look elsewhere, perhaps to platforms that lack the child-protection guardrails offered by the often-maligned social media giants.
The UK’s age verification process has been uneven
Similar questions are being asked in the United Kingdom, too, which recently restricted access to adult websites until proof of age is presented with identification. Leaving aside for the moment that uploading an ID to a porn website represents a security risk in itself, there’s also the possibility of users looking elsewhere, perhaps visiting platforms that provide riskier content, including illegal content.
To be clear, none of that is meant to be a statement of approval of the online porn industry; it’s simply a fact that blanket bans of this nature – especially when not thought through – can lead to other problems.
There are countless other examples. People use VPNs to access offshore and unlicensed casinos not available in their jurisdiction. There is a wide range of reasons why you should place your bets on blackjack and play slots at a licensed casino instead of an unregulated one, not least the fact that you’ll have player protections and audits to prove that the casino is playing fair. Again, that’s not to say that every state and country should legalize gambling immediately; it’s to point out that these actions have consequences.
Thought must be put into the unintended consequences
Part of the problem, overall, is that there is not enough thought put into the after-effects. Australia, as mentioned, is having a big issue with shutting down kids’ social media accounts. Yet, a plan should have been in place beforehand to make the process frictionless.
The same problem goes for UK age verification, which was rolled out without any kind of transparent action plan for how real adults (it’s not pornography sites alone that are impacted) could take the steps to prove they are of age in a safe and frictionless manner. And if you want some more evidence of ill-thought-out plans, take a look at some of the stories of how the EU’s own age-verification application is rolling out.
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In the end, everyone wants a safer internet, especially for children. But all too often, governments are behind the technology. Think about what is going on right now with AI, especially in areas like sexualized deepfakes. Some governments have attempted to make laws, but in many cases, it is too little too late. And by the time laws are enforced, there will be something new. It is, overall, a lack of anticipation about what might come next, not what is happening right now.
