This is going to backfire so badly I can't help but feel a little smug towards the people who feel righteous in supporting this.
this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2026
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Can you explain why you feel that way? Because in my mind (as a 31-year old that posted lots of cringe things on Facebook back in the day when I was a kid) I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing but maybe I'm wrong?
For one, how are you going to enforce the ban?
Age verification will require a massive destruction of digital freedoms for adults.
People are being absolute morons thinking there is simply a button you can press to exclude young people and there won't be serious civil rights and privacy violations from it even if it worked.
Policy should be evidence based. Personally it seems to me that screens are inherently bad for neural development under a certain age.
I could easily believe that Social media with addictive aspects in both design and content and content shaped by corporations, governments, etc could be as impactful as physical addictions or IRL trauma.
But that's just like my opinion. I'd like a bunch of experts reviewing the literature, suggesting experiments, and as a group making policy recommendations to democratically elected representatives.
How can users prove that they are over 15? Would you want to send Facebook and the like a picture of your ID?