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TikTok Sued by United States Justice Department for Violating Child Privacy Laws
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Yeah, right! Because they don’t collect personal information now. /s
Correct. To paraphrase a well known internet quote, “If you are not paying for a product, YOU are the product.”
I think if social media apps are that useful, we should be able to pay for them and maintain a much higher level of privacy. That might also cut out some of the desire by younger ones to even want it in the first place.
That’s what Screen Time (on iOS) is for, to make it difficult for children to install unapproved apps on their iDevice, and easier for parents to be the gatekeepers. Not Apple or Google—parents.
“Xitter“ is not be what it used to be in its heyday and had certainly lost much of its former glory with the addition of exorbitant Premium tiers, fake accounts galore and a heavier emphasis on advertising to the user, but it certainly has more facets than being a ”neo-Nazi cesspool”. I don’t see any of that stuff on there, because I’m not interested in looking for it.
TLDR: Responsibility! Parents — not government! Individual — not societal. The problem's source is at the child's home.
You are correct about the shifting of responsibility here. It should be the parents who are held responsible not only for their child's actions but their safety and education regarding the use of computers and social media, as well.
The attempt by government to 'protect' children against the perceived harms of social media WILL fail. Why? Because of a complete lack of parental concern. Making something illegal has rarely resulted in appreciable deterrence.
I remember when I was a child that other children would find access to all kinds of inappropriate for their age materials (pornography and violent films). It was more compelling to us because it was forbidden to us. That is basic human nature.
All of this is part of the much larger societal problem of parents checking-out and keeping a 'hands-free' management of their children. I'm not saying it's all or even most parents—but when you see the kind of misbehavior and violence in schoolchildren that we see today—everything from fists to guns to knives and razor blades—how can we not acknowledge that some parents are the problem as well? Not to mention basic civility or public behavior, which many children seem not to be taught.
I see parents (daily) with toddlers whom they allow to run down the sidewalk street - half an avenue-block ahead of them(!) and toward busy automotive and bicycle traffic. Said parents are generally looking at their phones as they walk unconcerned about their children's safety. And these are middle-upper-middle class parents who are probably otherwise very concerned about their children and said children's futures. But they have a glaring lack of awareness for their general safety. I think that online awareness may be another deficit. I don't know, as I don't know anyone with young children anymore.
But taking away the rights of people — young people — to interact online because of 'dangers' is histrionic and sidesteps the real problems: Bullying; online trolling, stalking, predatory behaviors by disgusting and/or socially maladapted people and/or other teens/children. For the children engaging in socially violent or aggressive behaviors, obviously, their 'guardians' (I won't call them 'parents' since that entails more effort than just the biological output) won't be keeping watch or even attempting to correct their behaviors. Most children don't become bullies without first learning it at home. Most won't become violent stalkers without serious emotional or physical abuse at home.
Sorry for the rant. It's just that this increasing call to CENSOR EVERYTHING seems to be spreading and I believe it is a danger to us all—even adults who have no real interest in social media and who do believe it is overall a net negative for society.
The problem is that any ten-year-old can simply enter a fake birth date.
The best way to prove age over 18 is to enter a credit card number and then charge the card maybe $1. But even then the kid could always borrow a CC.
What the governments should do is make collecting information of any kind have such a penalty that it would bankrupt even a large company like Facebook or Google. Age should not matter.
The best way to prove age over 18 is to enter a credit card number and then charge the card maybe $1. But even then the kid could always borrow a CC.
What the governments should do is make collecting information of any kind have such a penalty that it would bankrupt even a large company like Facebook or Google. Age should not matter.
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The DOJ has become gestapo.
I 100% agree. I however see a lot of parents signing their kids up for this rubbish. So they need to crack down on that also.
Exactly this. Ban payed content, including ads, on social media, and many problems would go away, because most incentives for algorithms to drive engagement would evaporate.
Unfortunately there are a thousand ways to circumvent Screen Time, which children tend to learn very quickly. But I agree that parents generally share a significant part of the responsibility.
People need to move on from TikTok. People get real world do things that matters. not this garbage
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I keep having this futuristic movie feel that somehow China will one day take all this data and weaponize it/blackmail people with it. Mass hysteria with bank accounts etc wiped out …
Maybe I need to get outside more!!
That app will never be on my devices or my kids as long as I’m paying for them!
Maybe I need to get outside more!!
That app will never be on my devices or my kids as long as I’m paying for them!
Do you not know that Trump is the one who started the whole TikTok ban? Granted, he has now flip-flopped on that position given that one of his donors is heavily invested in the company....
TikTok is like another website. It can be used for good or bad. There is a lot of propaganda or just wrong information on there. Facebook has a lot of crap on it as well.
Just ban the app already! I'm tired of seeing headlines of TikToker's doing the dumb things for views and likes...It's as bad as when the new iPhone comes out and we see social media people doing "drop tests" for views.
Meta has really gone all out with their check books for our bribed, err, sorry, political contributions friendly politicians to get this rolling.
Fun fact, I personally havent seen any nudity on TikTok but plenty in Instragram and Facebook, among other things.
And we know how little Meta cares for privacy, but here we are.
Fun fact, I personally havent seen any nudity on TikTok but plenty in Instragram and Facebook, among other things.
And we know how little Meta cares for privacy, but here we are.
Your point is that it’s fruitless even trying to prevent it? I’m sorry I’m confused I have a child who just got out of her teens and she was in the middle of the hype on this crappy social media. When I asked her many years ago if she was interested she said no not at all. Pointed a matter here is if you were to instill as a parent Values of what is right and wrong or they’ll know what to do. If the parents put in the effort in raising a child correct Eventually if they decided to use this type of crappy app they know the limitation is that they should use it with. It all goes down to the parents. Yes the parents do make a difference. beginning of the Internet just say the mid 90s just for an example you heard the horror stories of parents leaving their kids just to sit and chat rooms all day long while the kids didn’t eat or the parents never clean their house.
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Lmao gimme a break. “Strictest” Only means sanitising criticism and silencing people who speaks out. That part is indeed quite strict.
I am not trying to whitewash TikTok in any way but Instagram is same, one can easily fake birth date and set up account. There are many kids on the platform. And all these AI filters, masks (including ones created by users), aren't those mainly used by kids and teens?
Justice must be equal for all imo. And TikTok lawyers can use such argument in court with ease. They were basically copying what Meta did but with different social networking concept evolving around videos. Youtube also seems to be full of kids, Elsagate was a thing few years ago too
Justice must be equal for all imo. And TikTok lawyers can use such argument in court with ease. They were basically copying what Meta did but with different social networking concept evolving around videos. Youtube also seems to be full of kids, Elsagate was a thing few years ago too
What? is that what kids do nowadays? And clueless people are complaining about video games inciting violence?
Pick your poison. You can’t have all the benefits with no downsides.
Actually, I don't believe that it's fruitless tp try and prevent it.
I'm just saying that it happens earlier and that it's much more difficult then most people realize.