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The United Kingdom’s crusade against social media is not over. As if a social media ban for children under 16 were not restrictive enough, the U.K. has announced plans to impose a social media curfew for 16- and 17-year-olds.
On Wednesday, the country’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology unveiled a proposal for default overnight curfews on social media apps between midnight and 6 a.m. The measure would also, by default, switch off features that “serve up personalised content” for the older teenagers. The proposed regulations would still need to be legislated by Parliament and are expected to be enforced next spring.
According to a press release announcing the proposals, these measures will “help ensure there is no cliff edge in protections as young people move into their later teenage years,” since the country’s social media ban only covers children under 16. The curfew measures are not as overtly restrictive as the ban, and 16- and 17-year-olds can opt out of the curfew by changing their account settings. Still, the measures represent another overreach of government power into young people’s lives. In the U.K., 16-year-olds can consent to sex, drink alcohol in restaurants (with an adult), and join the Royal Navy. But they cannot be trusted, by default, to manage their own social media usage?
“In Scotland, at 16, you can legally move out, get married, work full time, leave education, and enlist, but can’t be on your phone when you want,” one teen complained to The Guardian. “I’m sorry, but that’s stupid.”
Others have pointed out the absurdity of the policy, which may not even achieve its stated goals.
“Either Labour think [sic] 16 & 17 year olds should be on social media or they don’t, but curfews they can switch off won’t achieve anything,” Laura Trott, the Shadow Education Secretary, wrote on X. “Giving 16 year olds the vote while putting them under a social media curfew makes no sense.”
The U.K. is proposing other online safety measures in addition to the curfew. The country’s technology secretary also intends to “bring forward a package of measures to help children use AI chatbots safely,” including “regular breaks for under-18s using chatbots” (it’s unclear if such breaks would be encouraged or required) and “working with regulators and across government to address services that provide dangerous, misleading or unverified mental health advice.” It says that “ministers will consider all options, including banning chatbots that pose a serious threat to children.”
The U.K. government also plans to bolster “media literacy skills” in schools through an updated National Curriculum and Relationships, Sex, and Health Education classes. These classes will “teach children to navigate new types of technology including artificial intelligence and AI chatbots, identify mis- and disinformation as well as violent and misogynistic content.”
This is perhaps the most chilling part of the proposed measures. Misinformation and disinformation are extremely subjective terms that have regularly been invoked to justify censoring speech (like in the U.S. during COVID-19). Schools have a legitimate interest in teaching students to think critically and seek truth, but the U.K. government is hardly in a position to tell kids how to navigate technology as it continues to propose and implement draconian measures restricting the free flow of information online.
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