Like enforcing mandatory bicycle helmets in Australia, this law is either massively misguided or serves another purpose. While politicians are often stupid, they can’t think we’re that stupid?
If you don’t want your kids accessing certain websites then the onus is on parents to control access. I do. If you want to do this structurally do it with ISPs and mobile carriers with router and SIM level filtering.
Put age limits on the ability to buy a device, SIM or internet package like we do for so many other things. It would be trivial to restrict access (and just as easy for smart kids to bypass as the current system).
Don’t use an iPad to babysit your child. Let them discover technology in an environment you’re confident and comfortable with. But it’s your job as a parent.
Or is all this really just about more mass surveillance under the guise of protecting the children?
Seen that you take a dig at anti-vaxxers... To be fair there's also a high correlation between the pro-vaxxers and those who believed the virus couldn't have possibly escaped from a lab.
Which was the official tune of the media, all synched, hammered for years. Now that tune has changed but that's another story.
Dude, what? You’re upset about mandatory helmet laws?
What next? Are you going to complain about seatbelts?
Being a libertarian is one thing, but acting like there is no good justification from those whom you oppose, is just… dishonest.
Bike helmet laws enjoy very widespread support nationwide and nobody is under any illusion as to their posed vs actual societal benefit. You’ve made up some boogeyman.
King County (where Seattle is located) repealed its mandatory helmet law in 2022, not because anybody has changed their mind about bike helmets being a good idea, but because the law primarily served as a discretionary-enforcement tool for harassment of homeless people and racial minorities. The law had no measurable impact on helmet-wearing rates or rates of brain injury, because people who can afford helmets generally choose to wear them. The city of Tacoma had repealed its mandatory helmet law two years prior, for similar reasons.
As a non-Australian, I came here and even opened the article (only to see "error: Please allow ads on our site") out of curiosity how the teenagers bypass the age check. No details!
The standard answers* are using a (free, exploitative) VPN or tricking image-based age verification. You know, rocket surgery according to Australian politicians.
* Source: am Australian and annoyed enough to follow reporting and discussions.
The fine - 99 million Australian dollars (€63mn) - should be directed toward parents. Repeat after me: if we want parental behavior to change, then we have to change the incentives.
If you don’t want your kids accessing certain websites then the onus is on parents to control access. I do. If you want to do this structurally do it with ISPs and mobile carriers with router and SIM level filtering.
Put age limits on the ability to buy a device, SIM or internet package like we do for so many other things. It would be trivial to restrict access (and just as easy for smart kids to bypass as the current system).
Don’t use an iPad to babysit your child. Let them discover technology in an environment you’re confident and comfortable with. But it’s your job as a parent.
Or is all this really just about more mass surveillance under the guise of protecting the children?
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