Could new separate domains provide safe access for kids?

[synch]

There is a concern about kids access to social media and so on, and some countries are banning access under 16.
Would it be realistic to add kids country-level domains and then use devices locked to that type of access ?
Eg Australia uses ".au", that could be supplemented by something like ".kidsau", and other countries would have
similar additions. Then kids could use devices that would only access the kid domains, and twitter/utube/facebook et al
could moderate the content and accounts to be suitable. Maybe IP6 has the scope ?

 

[jack action]

The problem is still accurate age verification while keeping the registration and access processes simple.

 

[jedishrfu]

The better approach is to make accts family based with a parent as the owner and kids have their own acct attached to the parents acct. parents would approve friend requests.

 

[256bits]

and twitter/utube/facebook et al
could moderate the content and accounts to be suitable

A while back ( 10 years or so ) someone told me their child had to delete their account on Facebook due to being under 16, maybe under Biden. Under Trump, the tech social media switched sides so that might not now be as much of a concern.

But a lost account is lost revenue. Some oversight would be necessary for compliance.

What issue(s) with under 16 is problematic?
The digital devices are put in schools, and for kids to take home, so it is not too much staring at a screen.
The level of (s)exploitation has dropped so that part is working, so its not that.
Some schools have private monitored wifi that students can use, so peer bullying, etc can be restricted.

So why this push to 'save the children' from the digital world?

 

[jedishrfu]

The issues are cyberbullying:
- One kid may be bullied by many
- One kid bullies many other kids

There was a case of an IBM engineer whose son was cyberbullied, and he never knew until after his son committed suicide. The poor kid was being hammered at school and online. He didn't have the skills to combat it and didn't tell his parents about it.

His father found all the chats and knew who the bullies were. He went to their parents, who acted shocked, but then the wagons circled, and doors were closed for fear of legal repercussions.

In one case, he found a student from another school who had created a suicide website and would encourage those who contacted him to do it. The father went to that kid's parents, and the website was yanked offline, only to reappear a few months later.

Bullying has a kind of structure in school. Jocks at the top, the party kids, the studious kids, and finally the kids who are none of the above.

Other things can happen, like extortion. A kid meets someone online who is very attractive, and they exchange photos, only to have the predator extort the kid for more photos using the fear of telling their parents or the whole world.

The internet is the wild west of possibilities, some of which are genuinely bad. Parents should have the tools and tell their kids explicitly upfront that internet use is a home privilege, and they should monitor their kids and have the final word on friend requests, even if it means losing their kids' trust and respect.

 

[jedishrfu]

Heres a discusion on how bad different social media platforms can be for kids.

 

[pbuk]

Would it be realistic to add kids country-level domains and then use devices locked to that type of access ?
Eg Australia uses ".au", that could be supplemented by something like ".kidsau", and other countries would have
similar additions. Then kids could use devices that would only access the kid domains,

So then children would not be able to access government sites. Or university sites. Or Wikipedia. Or PhysicsForums.

Instead, they would only be able to access social media and other content created especially for them, mainly by entities that have a commercial interest in holding children's attention.

I don't think that is a good idea.

Maybe IP6 has the scope ?

IP6 (vs IP4) is not relevant to your suggestion.