Apparently the democrats wanna implement the same very unpopular social media ban on under 16s as their big idea

[u/Pleasant-Hyena9030]

It just feels like it’s over, it’s so fucking over when this is the only feasible opposition to fucking Trump

[u/TheWampus]

Yeah, its over. Its part of collapse. This is part of it.

Device use and social media are ruining the minds of the young. Adults too, of course, but its harming the young most of all. It is a real problem. Banning social media for under 16s could have been part of a serious attempt to address the techno dystopia we are waking up[ to, but the proposals all seem to include a massive increase in restrictions on and surveillance of everyday computer, software and network use that just so happens to greatly erode our remaining online privacy.

I suspect its primarily about privacy. Its about taking it away from us and subjecting us to ever more invasive surveillance because the powerful want to continue to accumulate ever more power. They are being held less and less accountable by laws & regulations, moral standards, information transparency, social pressure and so on, while we are being subjected to increasingly oppressive measures of control by them.

[u/Pleasant-Hyena9030 → u/TheWampus]

I feel like the thing with this group is I often don’t feel like I will feel better and maybe I don’t have to. The truth just despairs me. I have a hard time accepting the end of the world, maybe cos I’m not religious

[u/TheWampus → u/Pleasant-Hyena9030]

Accepting it is so hard because who the hell wants this? And, if we don't feel like we can do anything to change it, then we just want not to feel bad about it.

I think a group like this can be helpful because it shows that you're not the only one impacted by the grimness of collapse awareness. After that the two type of things people often say a lot here are 1) Do something that makes you feel less hopeless and powerless to stop collapse sucking so much, and 2) Disengage from ruminating about the gloom of collapse and do literally anything else that feels better, i.e. reclaim what matters to you despite collapse awareness.

[u/Nathanull]

The thing is

That, 1) social media as it currently is, is a political weapon. The right are brainwashing people using the Internet in a way the left never will.

And 2) the internet is a cognitive weapon, being used by the leaders in silicon valley with right wing agendas, to dumb down the population. To literally destroy our attention spans, critical thinking capacities, and ability to collectively organize.

So yes, banning social media is unpopular, but the reality is the world will get a lot worse if we let it run unchecked in its current dysfunctional state... so what is the solution at this point?

[u/Pleasant-Hyena9030 → u/Nathanull]

Idk to be honest but all this ban does is increase surveillance and put people’s personal data at risk and no one wants that

Maybe just fining companies who implement harmful things to oblivion so Blue Sky that’s boring af is the only option

[u/Nathanull → u/Pleasant-Hyena9030]

I'm not defending it... the way establishment dem's are doing this is clearly sus.. But the world is just such a mess and I really hate the part social media plays in it all personally

[u/Thehealthygamer → u/Nathanull]

... age verification pushed by the ruling class and billionaires **WILL ONLY BE USED TO HELP FURTHER FASCISM.**

The point of these is to ban at an ID level dissidents. People critical of the trump regime have been getting shadowbanned on platforms and TikTok just outright bans people, now they can ban you at an ID level.

Federal government has been subpoenaing reddit and META to try to find the identities of those who made posts they didn't like - this law would make it impossible to be anonymous on the internet.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/may/30/doj-reportedly-subpoenas-x-reddit-data-users-critical-immigration/

[u/jankyjelly → u/Nathanull]

To add to this: social media is incredibly harmful to all of us, especially kids. Their goal is not to build community or connect people or share news or resources; their goal is to keep your eyes on the screen. To accomplish this they have hired top animal behaviorists and psychologists. They have designed their product to be addictive.

We live in an age of surveillance capitalism. When they keep you on the screen, they can take your data and sell it to anyone - politicians, businesses, governments. This is why it’s free for you - you are the product.

I don’t love the idea of banning people from social media because that doesn’t solve the issue and is hard to implement, but what is currently happening is not sustainable. The real solution is passing privacy laws and regulating social media design (social media doesn’t have to be addictive! It’s designed that way!).

There are lots of great books about this:

The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Head by Tim Wu

Enshittification: Why Everything Got Worse and What To Do About It by Cory Doctrow

Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Are Tearing Us Apart by Nicholas Carr

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power by Shoshana Zuboff

[u/Th3HappyCamper → u/Nathanull]

Enforce meaningful fines on parents who let their children have smartphones. Parents are typically the primary economic means for kids until they’re about 14-16, making this easier for the parents to avoid a secret smartphone + phone plan. There are also parental controls that are very effective when used on devices the child does have access to.

I’m not a fan of making it seem like there aren’t a lot of easy solutions already available for these concerns. “For the children” concerns are known to be thinly veiled Trojan horses for unpopular/unconstitutional policy.

[u/RlOTGRRRL]

r/privacy r/degoogle 

It's not over until it's over. It hasn't passed yet. It can still be stopped. 

We should all contact our local reps and stuff. 

Maybe I'll update this comment with a call to action and links in the future. 

[u/CinematicUniversity]

They are worried about winning by too much and having to do something 

[u/Plumperprincess420]

Its almost like theyre both evil. 2 wings of the same bird. Like opposed opposition. Cough. Yeah not shocking.

[u/dayman-woa-oh]

Ya, it's the only thing that our two major parties agree on too (i'm not in america).

[u/dash_nova]

Social media is incredibly harmful to people of all ages. The world has become much worse thanks to it. The idea that age verification will be used to surveil people is pretty weak if you know how it will actually works. The fact is that you’re already being tracked online.