Polling shows that social media bans are overwhelmingly popular. This article is for canada but it holds true for the US. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/07/01/majority-of-americans-support-banning-social-media-for-kids-under-16/
Just wanted to share because I’ve seen people act like it’s some anti-democratic conspiracy that these (bad) laws are going into place.
One can support a social media age ban (similar to the porn age bans that have existed since forever) while opposing the implementation proposal (invasive age verification needed for nearly everything).
From what I can tell, the definition of social media in the ban proposals amounts to the presence of algorithmic amplification of clickbait and outrage. It’s not too big a stretch to support banning that altogether, not just for minors. Traditional forums would still be fine, and Lemmy would be fine if it changed a few features that are arguably bad anyway.
I totally agree with that, I’d argue for either banning the negative aspects or doing that double-blind government-run verification I saw proposed that lets neither the government or the site have relevant information.
My point was that that stuff is a real concern for most people and that’s why those bills are being passed.