Why Every Country Should Set 16 as the Minimum Age for Social Media Accounts

Re:Why Every Country Should Set 16 as the Minimum Age for So... by kybernetikos on Wednesday January 14, 2026 @05:41PM (#46624918)

As you say 'social media' is not a good category, we should specify exactly the things that are concerning. Here are the ones where I'm concerned about their effect on young people:

1. a user is shown new content based on extensive profiling and a secret algorithm that the user does not control

2. a users activity can be discovered and tracked by people that intend to take advantage of the user

3. the operation of the site is optimised for addiction (or more euphemistically "attention")

I absolutely don't think that a book club or a kids own website comments or person to person chat systems should be included in the rules.

Note - I'm not saying these things should be banned, just that I think it's reasonable to restrict their use to adults.

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Re:Why Every Country Should Set 16 as the Minimum Age for So... by dkdcio on Wednesday January 14, 2026 @07:15PM (#46626018)

…why do all of those things happen? to sell paid digital advertisement. remove that incentive and I suspect the “social media” problems largely go away

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Re:Why Every Country Should Set 16 as the Minimum Age for So... by callc on Wednesday January 14, 2026 @10:00PM (#46627503)

I wish.

In reality, a large enough group of people on the internet starts to turn sour. Especially with anonymity. Especially without a specific purpose like a book club. Especially without moderation.

Small groups where you know everyone is where it’s at. To avoid internet stalkers and bullies, and for general quality of the community。

Our brains are built for small communities, not billions.

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