Steve Troughton-SmithWhile I greatly oppose cutting kids off from YouTube and TikTok, if the UK knew what was good for it, it would ban adults from social media too. The sooner countries cut off unfettered access to foreign propaganda and malicious algorithms, the quicker society at large will recover. But nobody has the strength or the political capital to go that far
Taylor Hadden@stroughtonsmith I’ll bite: how would you define this social media ban? What gets banned?
Sim@taylorhadden @stroughtonsmith anything that recommends social content that is not the content your direct follows post in chronological order
@simsaens @stroughtonsmith Can you define “social content”?
Seems like Netflix doesn’t count. Nor Spotify. Does YouTube? It wouldn’t for me.
@taylorhadden @simsaens from the UK government statement, "This would capture user-to-user platforms, whose purpose is to enable social interaction and which allow users to post material, alongside algorithms.", and "harmful functions such as livestreaming and stranger communication with children for under-16s"
We're not here to litigate the definition. It's already happening
@stroughtonsmith @simsaens Sure, it's happening in one place, but that doesn't mean it's the best version of the thing. The idea of a law is open to litigation.
A sideways angle at this thing (that does not really apply, but for illustration): what about platforms with two distinct kinds of "users"? Uber or Lyft have riders and drivers. Both are "users", but they are not the same kind. (1/2)
I think about the YouTube channels I frequent very similarly. The dynamic there (for me) is much more akin to "public access Netflix" than a network of peers. (2/2)
@taylorhadden @stroughtonsmith I would ban YouTube’s recommendation algorithm were it in my power 😀