A front-of-mind topic in many countries right now is the issue of children's use of social media. An entire generation of children has now grown up with sites like Youtube and Snapchat at their fingertips, and there are concerns for this and future generations as a result.
The concerns with youth and social media
- Mental Health Approximately 20% of teens in the United States report social media has harmed their mental health. Studies suggest young adults using social media are three times more likely to suffer from depression and are at a higher risk for suicidal thoughts.
- Exposure to harmful content Social media can provide access to content about self-harm, suicide, drug use, sexual imagery and more that are not appropriate for a young audience.
- Addictive design Features like late-night notifications, "like" counts, and auto-playing of the next clip are designed to keep users continually engaged. However, reducing daily use by even an hour shows a measured improvement in mood and sleep, and these features are counter-intuitive to moderating usage.
- Online safety and security Youth are vulnerable to online grooming and extremist recruiting that specifically targets teens.
While the reasons for youth social media bans are generally similar across different jurisdictions, there are different approaches to accomplish them.
Age-Verification Governments such as those in Australia, France, the UK and the European Union are taking the approach of requiring age verification to register for or maintain an account on social media platforms. Users will need to prove their age by providing proof of age, such as a driver's license
Platform exemption model Canada's Bill C-34: The Safe Social Media Act introduces a temporary prohibition on social media accounts for youth under the age of 16 unless the platform demonstrates government-defined safety standards are being met. This is a "carrot and stick" approach directed at the platforms themselves, not the users.
Design and/or Algorithim Restrictions Instead of restricting the ability to create an account, governments like those in California, New York, Connecticut and Maryland require that features like infinite scrolling, push notification and alorithmic feeds cannot be used by minor accounts. There may be some age categorization but no officlal identification has to be provided as proof.
Parental Consent Method US states such as Indiana and Minnesota require parental consent for youth under 16 to create a social media account. Minnesota also includes design restriction elements as well, banning certain features
VPN rewards worth the risk
Virtual Private Networks (VPN's) have a history as a method of circumventing restrictions based on ones physical location. For example, while much more difficult to do than it was originally, a VPN can be used to access the Netflix library available in another country.
With this in mind, the UK was considering restricting children's access to VPNs so as to avoid their use to bypass age-verification requirements. However, on July 15 Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Liz Kendall released a statement confirming VPN usage would not be restricted.
"VPNs have legitimate privacy and security uses and we will therefore not age-gate or ban them. Instead, we will put an onus on platforms in scope of the new restrictions to take robust steps to detect and prevent attempts by underage users to circumvent age assurance measures."
While Secretary Kendall acknowledged a segment of youth will attempt to employ various methods to beat the age-verification system, the benefits of VPNs outweighed the risks of youth attempting to use them improperly.
Her full statement can be read here.
Proton makes a quilt from the patchwork
With so many different approaches and nuances to each government's legislation, for those interested it can be difficult to track. Fortunately, Proton has you covered.
The Swiss-based champion of online privacy has created a tracking map that allows anyone to see what legislation has been enacted or proposed across the gobe. The map can be viewed here.
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