EXCLUSIVE: EU could announce social media ban for kids in September
Von der Leyen is expected to use her annual State of the Union speech to unveil plans for EU-wide age restrictions on social media
EXCLUSIVE: EU could announce social media ban for kids in September
Von der Leyen is expected to use her annual State of the Union speech to unveil plans for EU-wide age restrictions on social media
A) It’s very unlikely to actually stop kids from accessing social media. VPN’s, purchasing blackmarket accounts that have already been verified, classic fake ID’s (in the age of AI generated images, no less). So they’ll just keep building profiles for them anyway (it’s already known they do this now for people not actually signed up with social media, their trackers are all over the web and it’s easy to build a profile without concerted effort against it). Why do we always think “this time for sure forcing abstinence will work!”? It never does.
B) In addition to not actually stopping building profiles on kids, it now hands them a goldmine of information on adults. Mandates it, even. Data leaks are going to get a lot more “fun”…
How would a VPN help at all if you still need an ID?
And maybe I’m wrong but I find it hard to believe that kids will purchase black market accounts for this. Aren’t the IDs verified by a gov database? Anyone selling the account would be legally responsible for it and identifiable.
This is different from pirating stuff where no IDs are involved.
They’d sell accounts with other people’s ID? Those will inevitably get leaked. So for example your ID will get leaked and used and you’ll be the one to face the consequences. This is not new at all.
Honestly, in 2026 do you really think this won’t be subverted?
VPN to countries that don’t require identification. Done.
Kids have been buying accounts for years now. It isn’t new. See: WoW. This isn’t anything new, just a new market for it.
lol regarding holding anyone legally responsible. Good luck is all I can say. The US doesn’t prosecute firearms owners who claim a stolen gun that was involved in a crime, only in very clear (and especially stupid) cases. No chance this happens with social media accounts. Just none, on any wide scale.
And again, pretty easy to AI generate an ID these days… kids were doing this in the 70s and it was way, way harder back then.
And this is at the cost of mandatory handing of IDs to big tech that will inevitably leak. Are you comfortable posting a picture of your ID right here? If not, you should be no more comfortable handing your ID to Facebook.
I’m not willing up give up my right to privacy because someone else is a shitty parent, sorry. I’ll subvert it because it’s unethical.
The VPN works because you can use the service in another country that doesn’t require digital ID.
Ah that makes sense.