Was right about #Brexit, now talking about #inequality. & Brexit & other βοΈ stuff π. I block stupidity, fake accounts & deliberate trolling - life is short!
Joined October 2013
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Are we going to spend the next 2 years talking about what colour of culprit has done what, right up to next GE?
Cos that only has one outcome and it's not good for anyone (except a few very wealthy people).
We should be talking the less exciting #inequality. The economic kind.
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Alex S π¬π§π΅ββοΈ #FBPA retweeted
For those interested in the social media ban, there is an interesting study from Australia on how it affects teens there.
- Most banned 14/15 year olds continued to use social media anyway (27% complied totally; 68% of 15 year olds had used social media in the week before the study)
- Because legal responsibility was with the platforms, teens see no risk in trying to circumvent the ban
- Kidsβ lives are organised round school years, so things get particularly odd in the year when they turn 16 and half their class can legally access and half canβt
- Half of teens (47%) said people who complied with the ban were 'less popular' than those who carried on using social media despite the ban
(full working paper is here: bfi.uchicago.edu/wp-content/β¦)
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Alex S π¬π§π΅ββοΈ #FBPA retweeted
The kids who are being banned from YouTube literally do not have a BBC channel that is aimed at their age range.
CBeebies is aimed at under 6βs
CBBC is aimed at 6-12 year olds
BBC Three is aimed at 16-34 year olds.
Including YouTube in the UK Social Media ban will be the main thing that makes them want to seek workarounds. How insulting it must feel for Keir Starmer to say these teenagers cannot be trusted with anything more highbrow than cbeebies.
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People really need to learn to set up their own routers. Afaik kids aren't buying their own internet connections. Maybe legislate around parental controls (better) instead?
I am going to say this bluntly
You are a FAILURE as parents if you can't keep you child off social media yourself
YOU bought them the phone
YOU can confiscate it during homework
YOU are the parent, NOT Keir Starmer
Authoritarian ban for your "convenience" is not the answer
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No you don't need it, but you don't need a lot of things. That's not reason to ban it.
How can the Daily Mail, full of horrendous lies and mind rot, still be legal, but YT not?
Jesus fucking Christ.
We donβt need Youtube to educate our kids.
Has everyone lost their minds? π€¦ββοΈ
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Alex S π¬π§π΅ββοΈ #FBPA retweeted
Well, this is also fascinating. The responses to this thread are overwhelmingly dominated by Kremlin denialists. Clearly organised. Very reminiscent of peak Brexit years.
A) This a properly brilliant piece of investigative journalism by BBC & @hopenothate. Huge kudos to all involved.
B) The Kremlin operative who BBC names as directing arson attacks against Keir Starmer was taught his tradecraft byβ¦drumrollβ¦Sergei Nalobin !!! Pictured here with Boris Johnson. Also: the star of our podcast series, Sergei & the Westminster Spy Ring! Wtaf
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Almost anything that allows comments could be termed "social media". Where do you draw the line?
But of course, apps that *only* do messaging are exempt. So then why Discord no, WhatsApp yes? One of many problems with this proposal.
It seems that theyβre not sticking to a narrow list but theyβre using a broad definition of βsocial media website.β
Have to see the text of the SI, but if itβs not a predefined list, tens of thousands of US sites might be caught in the net here.
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Alex S π¬π§π΅ββοΈ #FBPA retweeted
This is extremely concerning rhetoric.
VPNs are vital shields for protecting vulnerable people online and preserving the anonymity of journalists, whistleblowers and activists.
Either @leicesterliz does not understand how crucial these privacy tools are, or, more worryingly, she does and is planning on restricting the public's access to them anyway.
We cannot allow the government to destroy online anonymity just to prop up their unworkable social media ban.
'We will make further statements in July about VPNs and further restrictions'
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told #BBCBreakfast she will outline more details next month about the social media ban on under 16s in the UK - as well as additional restrictions on Virtual Private Networks, curfews and chatbots
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2kyβ¦
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I'm not sure what the heck ofcom have been doing the last few years. They've allowed the most egregious shit on GBnews, even the BBC, etc. if they're also responsible for social media regulation, there's an awful lot they need to tackle, like X.
Hereβs a letter from Ofcom, the UKβs Internet censor, threatening my American clients with fines and arrest if they refused to censor their site.
Any comment?
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There's a lot of excellent long form content on YT, which is primarily what it's always been about. Unfortunately they added "shorts" to compete with tiktok etc, I have that turned off in app.
I will limit my kid's access to short form video as much as I can, precisely because I know they ARE human & that short form video is terrible for developing human brains. There's literally nothing on YT they can't learn better from books, recordings or other humans in person.
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Alex S π¬π§π΅ββοΈ #FBPA retweeted
Don't take too seriously the claims that the public overwhelmingly supports a social media ban for kids. When Cameron insisted that ISPs should offer filtering on home connections, most people said it was a good idea. And then when it arrived, the great majority just switched the filters off
The blackest pill about the UK social media ban is how popular it is. 70% to 80% support among adults in the UK. Regardless of the harm it causes, it's a sad reminder that things are bad not because of a few bad politicians but because people fundamentally hold horrible policy preferences.
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Alex S π¬π§π΅ββοΈ #FBPA retweeted
Jun 15
My kids were chatting the other day about a science influencer they both like. The older one follows on Tik Tok and the younger one on YouTube. I had never heard of this influencer - they discovered them themselves, independently. It was one of many moments I've had while watching my kids grow up that I've appreciated how valuable the digital world is to children.
The more I think about the social media ban, the more regressive it seems. Those of us with kids at school know that this generation is the best informed, most worldly generation in history. They know how to navigate misinformation, bullying, scams, threats, abuse and trolling better than many adults do. They understood AI the moment they laid eyes on it, and they use it daily.
Their social lives are largely spent online. They're more in touch with their friends than any previous generation, even if they're meeting less in the real world. For current teenagers, I think the loss of social media will be heartbreaking. It's cultural vandalism.
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Alex S π¬π§π΅ββοΈ #FBPA retweeted
Whether you agree with it or not, the fact that associations for disabled children are against the ban is interesting.
Their position is that it is a lifeline to find support and acceptance among peers. It is for many.
It is simplistic to see social media as evil.
Jun 15
The Royal Society for Blind Children and the National Deaf Children's Society have both come out against the Starmer social media ban.
"Internet bad" is a trendy, upper-middle-class opinion for people with extracurricular budgets that ignores legions of people who rely on it.
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Alex S π¬π§π΅ββοΈ #FBPA retweeted
Have written about how the social media ban might unravel quite quickly.
Thatβs partly because of social media itself. We have a new part of our politics, one which governments have to deal and which this government largely hasnβt- the algorithmic veto.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalβ¦
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RT @devisridhar: I agree with this take: social media itself isn't bad. Humans have always wanted to connect- through letters, phone calls,β¦
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I would like to see non-age based regulation of social media. That immediately does away with the concerns about age checks and workarounds for. X for example is full of harmful content, at any age, and has failed to self regulate. (Leave filtering to parents?)
All the "banning social media won't work because kids will find ways round it" posts are entirely missing the point. If they find ways round it, the social media companies are at fault. If they illegally supply content to underage users the consequences should be severe.
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Alex S π¬π§π΅ββοΈ #FBPA retweeted
Very much worth listening to an expert and watching this in full.
Perhaps most notable is this:
βIβve told the government this over the last year. I know they have heard this from other influential academics and charities that the evidence base just isnβt there to support bans. But politically itβs popular because it seems like an easy solution, but it is not the nuanced one.β
So the government are acutely aware that the precedent in other countries illustrates that a wholesale ban doesnβt work and that the experts advise against it from a child safety and wellbeing standpoint. And yet they still went ahead with it.
The UK government has announced plans to introduce a social media ban for under-16s by spring 2027.
Professor @Sander_vdLinden shares his reaction to today's news, and measures it against the evidence we already have about social media restrictions.
Learn more about his proposal for social media passports π youtube.com/watch?v=Y4RUNJVFβ¦
Professor Sander van der Linden is the Director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Laboratory and a Professorial Fellow of @ChurchillCol.
#SocialMediaBan #SocialMedia
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Sounds like India is having a more nuanced and intelligent discussion on this than the UK is so far managing.
The UK's proposed social media restrictions for children have reignited a debate that India can no longer postpone.
As a psychiatrist, I have little doubt that many parents' concerns are justified. Cyberbullying, sleep deprivation, online exploitation, social comparison and endless scrolling are no longer isolated problems. They have become part of growing up for many children.
India faces a different challenge. For millions of children, the internet is also a classroom, a tutor, a library and sometimes the only window to opportunities beyond their immediate surroundings.
That is why I remain cautious about simple answers to complex problems. Protecting children cannot be reduced to a choice between unrestricted access and outright bans.
Age-based safeguards deserve serious discussion. So do stronger parental controls, digital literacy in schools, safer platform design and greater accountability from technology companies.
The question is not whether children need protection online. They do.
The question is whether we can protect them without taking away the opportunities that the digital world also provides. That balance will be difficult to achieve, but it is the conversation India needs to have.
I discussed these issues earlier this year in the Indian Journal of Psychiatry:
share.google/WQObMDB4j3r8Plhβ¦
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Not sure I like where this is going at all. Has anyone looked into who's backing this, who they're consulting with?
'We will make further statements in July about VPNs and further restrictions'
Technology Secretary Liz Kendall told #BBCBreakfast she will outline more details next month about the social media ban on under 16s in the UK - as well as additional restrictions on Virtual Private Networks, curfews and chatbots
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2kyβ¦
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Alex S π¬π§π΅ββοΈ #FBPA retweeted
This is fucking horrific. I wish these cunts nothing but horror & abject misery in prison. Evil pair of sick bastards. Removed from his mother at 5 days old because she was a murderer. Taken from the hands of one murderer & put into the hands of two. Poor little darling boy π’π
A couple have been found guilty of the death of their 13-month-old adopted baby
@skysarahjane and child protection and safeguarding consultant and social worker Joanna Nicolas discuss the events leading up to baby Preston's death
trib.al/qZJUERD
πΊ Sky 501, Virgin 602
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No don't pray for the kids. Used evidence based policy. It works better.
(Spectator writer.... π¬)
Children this age were forced out of schools during covid, forced to spend their time βlearningβ online at home. The impact on their development was terrible.
Now, the same children are being banned from being online at all. They donβt understand why.
Pray for these kids.
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