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The effectiveness of the social media ban for kids (lemmy.world)
submitted 5 days ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/49761199

If you have been wondering about the effectiveness of the social media ban of under 15 year olds, this study got you :)

Spoiler: 92%+ of kids age 14-15 in Australia still use it ๐Ÿฅณ

Meanwhile IMO forced verification of users had a much better success rate ๐Ÿ˜‰

Source: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w35162/w35162.pdf

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[โ€“] 3 points 4 days ago (1 child)

So badically, 36% used to not use it because they were too young, but now only 8% don't use it, implying that 28% from that 36% found a way to use it despite age checks?

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  • [โ€“] 4 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    The study talks a lot about a kind of entourage effect. It seems as though, if more than a third of their friends are on social they will attempt to by-pass the age filters. The age filters are reported as "easy" or "very easy" to by-pass. I'm not sure if it's mentioned in this paper but you don't need a fancy vpn or whatever. Some kids draw on a mustache. Some just screw up their face to look wrinkled.

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    • [โ€“] 2 points 4 days ago

    Well that IS surprising.

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    [โ€“] 2 points 4 days ago

    It was always going to be difficult to remove social media from kids that are used with it. We will see the effect in the future because it could lead to fewer kids using social media in the future. It might take 5-10 years though.

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