Report commissioned by French government recommends children be banned from social media until 18 to protect them from tech industry monetization

I believe that we need to restrict access to social media to those who are at least 15 years, and even then, we need to increase the level of media literacy and digital literacy among students and teach these in schools. The reason why we need to teach media literacy and digital literacy in our schools is because a lot of social media (such as Facebook, X, YouTube and TikTok among others) are indoctrinating young people with misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories (the best example was during the coronavirus pandemic in which people stayed home, and sadly many were exposed to dangerous conspiracy theories, as well as the "documentary" Plandemic, which I discussed on the forums at the time) that are promoted through social media, and this has led to people going down rabbit holes and these conspiracy theories tore families apart, and this had been more pronounced during the 2020 Presidential Elections in the United States of America, which led to the insurrection at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on January 6, which saw people killed, and sadly I am fearing that this could happen again.

In addition, there are people who are promoting misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories online in regards to the current conflict in the Middle East, which has increased the level of both Islamophobia and Antisemitism throughout the world; and there has even been conspiracy theories involving people such as George Soros that has led to an increase in Antisemitism, and this has been promoted by those on the extremes of the political spectrum, especially in regards to those on the extreme right (such as Alex Jones of Infowars or Michel Chossudovsky of Global Research).

As you may be aware, there had been a debate on "freedom of speech" in regards to the attacks at Westfields Bondi Junction and a church in Sydney in which a sixteen year old boy stabbed a Bishop during a webcast, and the Australian government ordered their removal; with Elon Musk complaining that blocking these videos would be affront to free speech (he claims to be a free speech absolutist, but if you attack him, you get banned). I believe in free speech, but there is a line that should not be crossed, and allowing these videos to stay on, let's say X (formerly Twitter), then it crosses the line in my honest opinion.

However, what should be noted is that misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories has not been limited to social media or the so-called "alternative media" online (such as Black Agenda Report and World Socialist Website on the extreme left or Infowars or Global Research on the extreme right), but there has also been spread through the real world, such as through magazines that are readily available in a newsagent (when I go to the newsagents on a Monday to buy a CREDIBLE magazine like The Economist, I often see magazines such as Uncensored, Nexus or New Dawn that promote conspiracy theories) and there are even people in the mainstream media (such as Outsiders on Sky News here in Australia) promoting conspiracy theories.

But honestly, banning social media for under 15s (such as what I am proposing) could be a double-edged sword, as the conspiracy theorists and neferious actors online could work their way around and try to reach young people through other methods. And even if people are over 15, some people may not be able to tell the difference and could actually be just as vulnerable to misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories as people under 15. And because of this, there are limits to advertising to children through television here in Australia (such as no advertising allowed in "P" rated programs, and restrictions on advertising on "C" rated programs, especially in regards to junk food), as well as moves to ban gambling ads on television (especially in regards to sport, which children will associate sport with gambling).

Oh, and remember that many of these people who create these social media outlets don't actually let their children use becuase of the addictive nature of such outlets, as well as the potential for danger as highlighted throughout this post. But even for us, the users of such applications, we need to use it responsibly as well as teach children to be responsible for it, and not use it for things like "revenge porn" or "online bullying".

I might sign off this post before it becomes as long as my Masters thesis from when I did a Masters of Asian Studies at university (which had nothing to do with the discussion that is being discussed in this thread).