I’m asking for public policy ideas here. A lot of countries are enacting age verification now. But of course this is a privacy nightmare and is ripe for abuse. At the same time though, I also understand why people are concerned with how kids are using social media. These products are designed to be addictive and are known to cause body image issues and so forth. So what’s the middle ground? How can we protect kids from the harms of social media in a way that respects everyone’s privacy?
Regulate advertising space and personalization algorithms.
Yes, it will kill a large portion of current economy, so maybe do it slowly. But generally speaking you should be able to find what you want on the internet, not what advertisers want you to see.
This is it. We regulate drugs, so likewise the addictive algorithm needs regulation, but no lawmakers want to go after the oligarchs.
It’s a vaguely similar situation to immigration. If the US really wanted to stop illegal immigration they could take care of the vast majority of it immediately with harsh penalties for any employer caught with illegal employees, but no one wants to actually keep immigrants out because that would be admitting to the fact that they’re crucial to the economy.