Even those who support the idea of a ban concede that enforcing it poses serious problems. Age-verification systems would be required, and every available option comes with significant risks.
Document-based verification demands the uploading of passports or driver licences. Biometric systems analyse faces or voices. Digital IDs link real-world identity to online accounts. Third-party verifiers create new pools of sensitive data. Almost all these options undermine privacy, create fresh targets for cyber attack, and risk excluding vulnerable teens who lack official ID.
Worse, they introduce an infrastructure of identity surveillance that could easily be repurposed. Once digital identity becomes a prerequisite for online access, anonymity disappears. Every click becomes traceable.
But David Harvey captures well the issues around a legislated age verification system. We’re not just talking people having to tick a box declaring they are 16, but actually having to prove who they are, and their age. That could result in every adult needing to scan their passport or drivers licence is, to use Facebook or Twitter.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders
3 comments:
The drive to establish age verification on social media apps is but another Trojan horse in which the authoritarian state we all now live under, can get to no us all just a little bit better.
The minds and bodies of our youngest, believe me, are of little concern.
After all the neo Marxists have been targeting their vulnerability with their bent ideologies for decades.
So practically everyone using Twitter or Facebook may have to upload the drivers licence or passport. Great idea. Then those two sites will end up closing down because sensible people won't comply. The world will be a much better place if that happens. Hopefully tik-tok will follow suit. Can't wait for it all to happen
Some young people can be very vicious with each other on social media but, of course, adults can be just as bad.
During this year we have seen some very nasty attacks on private people over Facebook. In particular, several people who are working on our much-needed reforms in Education have been on the receiving end. It is quite astonishing what so-called influencers and their followers can get away with, and Netsafe needs greater powers to deal with the problem. Anyone who calls out these influencers will also become a target - where apparently the intent is to damage reputations and even careers. In some cases we see hundreds of derogatory comments on the person’s appearace or on his or her character - or both. How is it that here in New Zealand we have a sector of our society that has sunk so low?
The bad language and general rudeness of some of our young influencers, including young women, do not yet cross the line. What does cross the line is to inpugn the integrity of a private individual, especially when dozens or hundreds of followers join in. It is difficult for anyone caught in this situation but it is especially difficult for a more senior person to deal with attacks from a young influencer who has the support of a large number of followers. Unfortunately, some of the general public seem to support the young person unthinkingly, irrespective of the truth of the matter, and getting into an online fight with a much younger person is not a good look. But doing nothing does not solve the problem either.
Apparently, Netsafe can do little and the nasty material can sit out there for years, easily discoverable and undermining those who have been attacked. Decent people should not have to live with this situation and we need stronger legislation to protect both children and adults.
David Lillis
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