TimMar 3
Mandrake 🐎

The UK Government has launched a public consultation which is seeking views on whether to ban children from using social media. This consultation will run until 26 May 2026.

It is highly likely that later this year, the establishment will attempt to introduce legislation which forces social media platforms (potentially including Mastodon) and VPNs to verify the age of their users. Therefore, this consultation is likely to be the only opportunity we will have to push back against these authoritarian measures.

Please take the time to read the consultation and answer the questions (especially if you are the parent or carer of a young person):
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/growing-up-in-the-online-world-a-national-consultation

Growing up in the online world: a national consultation

We are consulting on further measures to prepare children for the future in an age of rapid technological change. This includes potential age restrictions on social media and other services such as gaming sites and AI chatbots, restrictions on addictive design features and risky functionalities, and better support for parents and families.

GOV.UK
Mar 2 at 7:01pmWeb
Show threadMandrake 🐎Mar 2
Honestly, I'm fully expecting the Government to push ahead with their enclosure of the digital commons, but at the very least we should be able to say that we fought against it.
Show threadbig bappy pawbsMar 2

@Mandrake I'd imagine that, with enough public outcry against the (extremely highly) probable (and provable) mishandling of biometric data associated with minors, no MP would be willing to get tangled up as "the person who helped legally endanger the Commonwealth's children."

Since that's exactly what this kind of legislation actually does.

Show threadYzaMar 2
@Mandrake i hate filling these bastard things out and i know the government will likely just ignore the results even if they are overwhelmingly against them, but still i do it. they are least should be confronted with the fact they're acting against our opposition
Show threadMandrake 🐎Mar 3
If you need help with your response, @ret has published his answers on his website: https://foxdog.blog/blog/uk-social-media-consultation/ (obviously, please use your own words and don't copy-paste)
UK Social Media Consultation Responses

My responses to the UK "Growing up in the online world" consultation

Show threadJimmyB (he/him)Mar 3
@Mandrake doesn’t allow me to answer presumably coz I answered I’m in the Channel Islands. Yet this will directly impact us. Just like Brexit where we didn’t get a vote…
Show threadRevK Mar 3

@Mandrake "children aged 21 or younger"

I thought we called them "adults" once they got to 18.

Show threadMandrake 🐎Mar 3
@revk Always vindicating to see the Government's mask slip and reveal their determination to infantilise young adults
Show threadjohnny anhedonicMar 3
@Mandrake fucking australia ruining shit for everyone again
Show threadGerrit NiezenMar 3
@Mandrake Looks like you have to support it being a legal requirement?
Show threadChristopher M0YNGMar 3
@gendor @Mandrake "prefer not to say" is an option, some consultations let you not pick any answer too.
Show threadvksxypantsMar 3
@Mandrake filling out this survey and I genuinely don't know why these restrictions, if they apply to children, should not apply to everyone. I also don't want, for example, AI chatbots to simulate romantic relationships with my elderly parents, or allow them to make purchases in the app. Honestly, this is just such a disaster...
Show threadvksxypantsMar 3
@Mandrake like this thing, maybe the boomers need this too actually????
Show threadPaula MaddoxMar 5
@Mandrake the end of the internet as we know it.