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Posted on 12/09/2025 10:48:44 AM PST by SeekAndFind
When Stephen Scheeler became Facebook's Australia chief in the early 2010s, he was a true believer in the power of the internet, and social media, for public good.
It would herald a new era of global connection and democratise learning. It would let users build their own public squares without the traditional gatekeepers.
"There was that heady optimism phase when I first joined and I think a lot of the world shared that," he told the BBC.
But by the time he left the firm in 2017, seeds of doubt about its work had been planted, and they've since bloomed.
"There's lots of good things about these platforms, but there's just too much bad stuff," he surmises.
That's no longer an uncommon view as scrutiny of the largest social media companies has increased around the globe. A lot of it has centred on teenagers, who have emerged as a lucrative market for incredibly wealthy global firms - at the expense of their mental health and wellbeing, according to critics.
Various governments, from the state of Utah to the European Union, have been experimenting with limiting children's use of social media.
But the most radical step so far is set to unfold in Australia - a ban for under-16s that kicks in on 10 December has left tech companies scrambling.
Many of the social media firms affected have spent a year loudly protesting against the new law, which requires them to take "reasonable steps" to keep underage users from having accounts on their platforms.
They have claimed this ban actually risks making children less safe, argued it impinges on their rights, and repeatedly pointed to the questions around the tech that will be used to enforce the policy.
"Australia is engaged in blanket censorship that will make its youth less informed...
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
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Back in the day, I used a neighbor’s drivers license to buy beer.
that will make its youth less informed...
Poor ignorant dears may not learn that Earth’s temperature is not controlled by the Sun but greedy MAGA drivers. Would be a shame, no?
,,, it’s a lift in standards of living for Aussie children. There’s parks and walkways, bicycles, chores and smiles waiting.
This is not 1950s Australia.
Those “parks and walkways” are not what you think they are.
as much as I agree that 13 year olds should not be on social media, that is not what this is all about.
The goal is to force everyone into having a digital ID. The excuse it that it will “protect the children” and after all children in Australia get a digital id to access the internet it will spread to other countries, and in a 20 years everything and everyone will be digital id’ed and tracked across platforms
Troll while you may
They are starting with under 16’s - using the justification of “protecting” the children
Therein lies the real problem.
Yup—the leftists that run Australia view all of the citizens as children.
They are just starting with the youngest first.
RE: Back in the day, I used a neighbor’s drivers license to buy beer
You must bear a striking resemblance to your neighbor 😆 😝
It is all about controlling all the information age 16 and under receive.
Well the leftist a-holes on Bluesky got an exemption how about that.
Correct—it is no fun being a leftist government if you cannot control everything youngsters see and hear.
You certainly do not want them having incorrect thoughts—and worse yet expressing those in public forums.
We were about the same height, weight and hair color. That’s all that mattered before photo IDs.
The power brokers don't worry about the parents because they're already drinking the Flavor-Aid, but the kids are having their eyes opened to just how bad the propaganda has been for more than a century.
Yes its a cynical work around freedom of speech.
I am quite stunned how the newer generations have embraced conservatism. I had always thought each generation would get more leftist. But it hasn’t quite worked out that way. It was boomers here in Canada who out the Liberal Party back into power.
,,, you're right, there was a time when the danger was taipans, redback spiders and poisonous jellyfish.
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