3 ms·

Why does it need to be global?

ceejayoz 2y ago
Because other countries can host websites too? And their citizens can sign up for Instagram. “Oh, I’m Russian, we don’t have that.”
- llamaimperative 2y ago
  Having to download a VPN and do some evasion would probably be a substantial enough deterrent for… [checks notes]… 14 year olds… that it’d be worth doing. And realistically, if Meta et al wanted to stop harming entire generations of developing minds, they could obviously use their immense data infrastructure to separate actual Russian from allegedly-Russian children. So all you really need is corporate buy-in (and toothsome regulations is a perfectly fine way to produce buy-in where markets fail to do so) Edit: realized you’re talking about the case of Russian services being marketed to American children. That too seems straightforward to produce meaningful obstacles, with sufficient appetite from regulators.
  - op00to 2y ago
    My 10 year old kid is smart enough to bypass the various blocking mechanisms in place at school. A VPN is nothing. All they’d need to do is buy a pre paid credit card at the local Walgreens.
    - llamaimperative 2y ago
      My 10 year old kid is smart enough to bypass the ignition key on a car therefore licensure requirements and car keys are stupid. In reality, your smart 10 year old isn’t powering the toxic social dynamics of social media. It’s the armies of average intelligence kids seeking engineered dopamine hits. Network effects work for network dissolution just the same as they work for network growth, which is of course why Meta would never voluntarily do anything that could kick off the popular kids, even if your prodigy could bypass it with no problem. Note: “All those kids are already addicted and so they’ll be highly motivated too!” is a call to action, not to inaction.
fkyoureadthedoc 2y ago
Because the social media companies are? I wonder if there would be a noticeable increase in VPN adoption if there were strictly enforced age restrictions targeting the US only. There certainly has been an uptick in VPN literacy among people I know after PornHub blocked my state...
- llamaimperative 2y ago
  A solution doesn’t need to be bulletproof to have a meaningful and worthwhile effect. How often do you see 14 year olds joyriding cars?
  - ceejayoz 2y ago
    How often do you see 14 year olds evading internet restrictions? (Allllll the time. My kids figured out how to bypass the pihole within a day, without even knowing I’d installed it.)
    - llamaimperative 2y ago
      It’s almost like the most important stakeholders have no interest in preventing them from evading those restrictions…
      - ceejayoz 2y ago
        We have some fairly strict rules on devices - it’s not a lack of will. Same for the school; they don’t want kids YouTubing in class, but “a laptop for everyone” is the standard now, the teachers do a lot on Teams, etc. Kids are smart and motivated, and they share techniques. They find ways.
        llamaimperative 2y ago
        The key stakeholders here are the services themselves. If they placed “keep children off the network” anywhere near “keep growing DAU” on their list of priorities, all those highly paid engineers (likewise smart and motivated) would find ways too.

Because other countries can host websites too? And their citizens can sign up for Instagram. “Oh, I’m Russian, we don’t have that.”

llamaimperative 2y ago
Having to download a VPN and do some evasion would probably be a substantial enough deterrent for… [checks notes]… 14 year olds… that it’d be worth doing. And realistically, if Meta et al wanted to stop harming entire generations of developing minds, they could obviously use their immense data infrastructure to separate actual Russian from allegedly-Russian children. So all you really need is corporate buy-in (and toothsome regulations is a perfectly fine way to produce buy-in where markets fail to do so) Edit: realized you’re talking about the case of Russian services being marketed to American children. That too seems straightforward to produce meaningful obstacles, with sufficient appetite from regulators.
- op00to 2y ago
  My 10 year old kid is smart enough to bypass the various blocking mechanisms in place at school. A VPN is nothing. All they’d need to do is buy a pre paid credit card at the local Walgreens.
  - llamaimperative 2y ago
    My 10 year old kid is smart enough to bypass the ignition key on a car therefore licensure requirements and car keys are stupid. In reality, your smart 10 year old isn’t powering the toxic social dynamics of social media. It’s the armies of average intelligence kids seeking engineered dopamine hits. Network effects work for network dissolution just the same as they work for network growth, which is of course why Meta would never voluntarily do anything that could kick off the popular kids, even if your prodigy could bypass it with no problem. Note: “All those kids are already addicted and so they’ll be highly motivated too!” is a call to action, not to inaction.

fkyoureadthedoc 2y ago

Because the social media companies are? I wonder if there would be a noticeable increase in VPN adoption if there were strictly enforced age restrictions targeting the US only. There certainly has been an uptick in VPN literacy among people I know after PornHub blocked my state...

llamaimperative 2y ago
A solution doesn’t need to be bulletproof to have a meaningful and worthwhile effect. How often do you see 14 year olds joyriding cars?
- ceejayoz 2y ago
  How often do you see 14 year olds evading internet restrictions? (Allllll the time. My kids figured out how to bypass the pihole within a day, without even knowing I’d installed it.)
  - llamaimperative 2y ago
    It’s almost like the most important stakeholders have no interest in preventing them from evading those restrictions…
    - ceejayoz 2y ago
      We have some fairly strict rules on devices - it’s not a lack of will. Same for the school; they don’t want kids YouTubing in class, but “a laptop for everyone” is the standard now, the teachers do a lot on Teams, etc. Kids are smart and motivated, and they share techniques. They find ways.
      - llamaimperative 2y ago
        The key stakeholders here are the services themselves. If they placed “keep children off the network” anywhere near “keep growing DAU” on their list of priorities, all those highly paid engineers (likewise smart and motivated) would find ways too.