It was never just going to be about keeping kids off social media

Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by Sarah McLaughlin

“‘We shouldn’t accept that this is the end,’ Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said this week of the UK’s looming under-16 social media ban. ‘This is a staging post to what must be a very active interventionist state, policing and regulating the online space so that people are safe.’ Next March, the initial rollout will begin to keep teens under 16 from using ‘high-risk’ social media apps, and further algorithmic restrictions will later hit those under 18. After that, more restrictions will apparently follow. What new ‘policing and regulating’ powers will officials seek?” (10/02/26)

https://www.fire.org/news/blogs/free-speech-dispatch/it-was-never-just-going-be-about-keeping-kids-social-media