Finland looks to introduce Australia-style ban on social media

School phone bans and Finnish context

• Commenters note Finland needed a legal change just to let schools restrict phones, unlike places where schools set their own rules.
• Some see this as over‑regulation that reduces flexibility; others stress student property/rights and that the law is needed to confiscate or restrict phone use during breaks.

What counts as “social media”?

• Strong disagreement over scope: Does it include TikTok‑style feeds only, or also YouTube, Discord, Roblox, Reddit, forums, email, SMS, and sites like Hacker News?
• Some propose a narrow, functional definition: algorithmic, engagement‑optimized feeds with ads and real‑identity; others say law will likely sweep in any site where people can talk.
• Australia’s stoplist approach (named platforms) is cited as a precedent, but seen as arbitrary and whack‑a‑mole.

Age verification, IDs, and privacy

• Many argue bans are unenforceable without robust age checks, which in practice implies ID or government‑linked digital identity.
• Large sub‑thread on zero‑knowledge proofs and EU digital ID wallets: technically possible to prove “over 15/18” without revealing identity, but critics say governments will demand linkable, revocable credentials.
• Widespread fear this will normalise “internet KYC”, killing anonymity and enabling censorship and mass surveillance. Supporters counter that banks and telecoms already do this, and that privacy‑preserving schemes could be mandated.

Protecting children vs. parental responsibility

• One camp: social media behaves like a drug; kids only get one childhood; government must limit exposure, just as with alcohol, tobacco, helmets, or driving.
• Opposing camp: this is “think of the children” moral panic; parents should use device controls and norms, not state bans. They stress harms from government overreach more than from platforms.
• Some argue parents are outgunned by trillion‑dollar attention‑optimization, so “individual responsibility” is unrealistic.

Addictive design, ads, and algorithms

• Broad agreement that modern platforms (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube Shorts, often Reddit) are unlike early MySpace/ICQ/forums: they are “attention media”, optimized for engagement via infinite scroll, autoplay, notifications, and targeted ads.
• Suggestions: ban targeted ads to minors (or entirely), or any business model where revenue scales with engagement from children. Others go further: ban algorithmic feeds, “dark patterns”, and short‑form dopamine loops for all ages.
• Some cite studies claiming minimal causal impact of overall screen/social‑media time on teen mental health; others cite research showing dose‑response links to depression. The empirical picture is portrayed as mixed and contested.

Effectiveness, workarounds, and collateral damage

• Skeptics predict teens will simply lie about age, share older IDs, use VPNs, or move to lesser‑known apps, SMS, email lists, or game chats. That may even push them to shadier, less moderated environments.
• Supporters reply that perfect enforcement isn’t required: breaking mainstream network effects and giving parents a clearer line (“it’s illegal”) could still significantly reduce use.
• Concerns raised about harm to marginalized youth (queer, neurodivergent, disabled) who rely on online communities when local environments are hostile.

Speech, politics, and the open internet

• Several see a coordinated trend (Australia, France, Finland, UK) toward tying all online activity to verified identity, nominally for child safety but functionally enabling control over “misinformation”, dissent, and protests.
• Others emphasize that current situation—global corporations optimizing outrage and misinformation for ad revenue—is itself a structural threat to democracy; some would happily see large platforms broken up or wither if ID checks drive users off.
• There is nostalgia for earlier, more decentralized forums and Usenet, and hope that backlash will revive open, non‑profit, or federated alternatives.

Alternative regulatory ideas

• Regulate design and incentives instead of blanket age bans:
  • Disable infinite scroll, autoplay, and personalized feeds for minors; require visible “time used” interruptions.
  • Default chronological/subscription feeds; limit notifications, especially at night.
  • Audit and restrict engagement‑based ranking and recommendation systems.
  • Stronger parental tools (content‑type filters, app‑level feature toggles like disabling Shorts).
• More radical proposals include banning smartphones (or proprietary OSes) for minors, banning profit‑making social networks, or treating certain “chum feed” apps like hard drugs for all ages.