Are Zuckerberg and Musk responsible for looking after my kids online?
21 November 2024, 16:07
As Australia clambers to ban under-16s from social media, LBC’s Tech Correspondent Will Guyatt wonders why most think it's down to the tech giants to provide all the answers.
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Online safety campaigners around the world are paying close attention as politicians Down Under attempt to push a social media ban through in record time, while both recognising and ignoring the fact there are still no effective ways of verifying age online – just predicting.
In Australia, this law becomes legally binding in under a year – but the government says it is down to tech companies to solve a problem that has so far been impossible to answer.
Technology means age prediction online is getting more accurate year-on-year, but it is not good enough to ensure all U16s in Australia will be kept off their beloved TikTok or Instagram.
If the tech continues to progress as it is, we might get to 75% accuracy within another couple of years.
Just five years ago, the UK government was going to make adults looking at legal online porn visit their local newsagents to obtain a scratchcard to verify their age. That idea now feels prehistoric.
There is a massive elephant in the room here – the thorny issue of age verification could be solved by the government at a stroke if they had the balls to introduce a national ID scheme.
Tech companies would no longer have to guess whether Tommy was 12 or 17 – they would know, and online trolling and other safety issues would be eradicated too, as online personas would be tied to real human identities.
Governments worldwide want to keep blaming the tech companies – because it suits them.
I was disappointed this week to see online safety campaigners at the NSPCC putting the blame for age verification solely at the door of the tech companies.
Yes – they need to do far more to keep young people safe online, but that is not the complete picture here.
As the CEO of the NSPCC, Sir Peter Wanless says a blanket ban of social media would penalise children for the failure of tech companies to protect them crucially ignores both the role government and family plays in keeping children safe online – but Peter does want to point at you as a parent or the government – just tech companies who are an easier target.
Mark Zuckerberg, or even the new King of America, Elon Musk does not deliver your child’s new smartphone at your house with social media apps ready to use.
Parents have a significant role to play and absolutely say no if you do not want your child using it.
I am not for a second claiming this is easy – I have a six-year-old daughter, and I am terrified about the moment we let her loose on the Internet.
However, when we do, it will be a collaborative conversation and learning process for us as a family.
With the UK’s Online Safety Bill coming into force next year – the impetus for tighter controls over big tech, and the protection of young users will only continue to grow – but I cannot help feeling there’s more that parents and government should be doing too – not just big tech.
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Will Guyatt is LBC's Tech Correspondent, and previously worked for both Facebook and Instagram.
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