Online Gaming Platforms And YouTube Will Also Seemingly Be Banned For Aussies Under 16

Online Gaming Platforms And YouTube Will Also Seemingly Be Banned For Aussies Under 16

[Gamingsince1981]

I'm glad they are doing this really, in my opinion you shouldn't be on social media until at least the age of consent and that is 16 here in Australia.

[YourMommySpoils]

It's about damn time.

[goken]

I don’t know man… last time a country’s government tried to limit kids game time, people were like “evil CCP china bad”

[Christopher]

This would only push for more offline games or for online games to curb their social aspects. Wouldn't limit kids game time.

[Profchaos]

Yeah I tend to agree for social media so many kids have been bullied to the point of suicide via these platforms and it's all well and good to say well it's the parents fault but kids will always find a way

[DarXyde]

Pardon my un-Aussie ignorance, but is there any reason parents can't parent?

[goken]

Well many parents are suckers so to speak.
I asked a china friend regarding his daughter’s gaming after the gaming limit the Chinese government placed on kids… he told me it made very little difference, because his daughter would just use his phone or account to play.

So yeah… some parents obviously can’t handle their kids

[DarXyde]

goken,

I appreciate the insight, mate, though I admit this is a very confusing anecdote. Your friend's daughter uses his phone or account... But if he's against it, doesn't he have passwords to stop her...?

I'm assuming he wants to cut her habits here, so I may be wrong.

I guess either way, this ban in Australia is performative at best. How does one even properly enforce this? Reminds me of porn laws in some part(s) of the states. In the US state of Utah, I believe they require a government ID to watch porn—profoundly stupid in the age of VPNs. Likewise, I believe some have entertained banning sodomy.

How are any of these laws properly enforceable and what purpose do they serve beyond being authoritarian?

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

You would think so, but from anecdotal experience, a lot of them choose not to parent their kids.

[BehindTheRows]

Finally we fully agree on something!

😛

[Christopher]

It takes a lot of knowledge and know-how to properly manage a child's online activities (other than just going full dark) and they can't control what other kids show them at school and similar places. There's also a ton of peer pressure to be involved in this things and understand them. If your child is the one not knowing the latest stuff, they are social pariahs in school. That's not beneficial for a healthy childhood and, yes, child brains are that simple. It's why psychologists thing social limits for children must be enacted as a whole and not individually.

[Profchaos]

Because parents are in the dark when it comes to tech a lot of the time if Dad works all day with a shovel in hand and mum works at a store are those the types of people who fully grasp security and safety on the internet?

To many parents Roblox looks benign a simple little game where kids run around collecting things but they don't understand that it has social interaction could out them in touch with with a hist of nasty stuff.

Short of forcing the kids off all tech which sets them up for failure in the future and causes them to rebel anyway they always find a way to access what you don't want them to access.

Since we're on anecdotes I know the kid that lives nextdoor to me developed bullemia and body issues from social media so I've seen it happen and I knew the parents who both worked full time and thought they were on top of things.

And who doesn't remember being young and sneaking off to a friend's house to play or watch something out own parents hated be it playing a GTA game watching south park or sneaking a peak at some adult movies for the first time we all did it but the consequences here are greater.

[isarai]

This should be the job of the parents, not the government

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

The social media one at least makes sense, considering the damage it does to people, especially young kids, good luck with the Gaming and Youtube though (I don't think Youtube should be limited since it can also be educational).

[soulreaper37]

So dumb. In that case you might as well ban it country wide. Let the parents decide not the government

[monkey602]

I'd agree but we've been saying that for years now and the parents just aren't up to task to be honest.

[Knightofelemia]

Parents can be up to the task. But parenting in todays world and when you grew up has changed. You can't ground a kid, spank a kid, punish a kid in any form. Moment a parent tries any of that one phone call and the kid can claim abuse. Then you as the parent are facing abuse charges and going to court when you did nothing wrong. Or when you do say take the Xbox away or ground the kid from Fortnite they have a melt down along with a giant shit fit. So glad I don't have or want kids.

[monkey602]

Yes, corporal punishment is gone but that's not the only way of disciplining a child. It IS tough to get through to kids now but it's not impossible. The problem is a lot of parents just aren't willing. There's a selfishness to a lot of adults now. It's easier to give a child a tablet or device to distract them, than it is to entertain them yourself.

[Knushwood Butt]

knightofelemia gets it, and doesn't even have kids - good for you sir/madam/whatever

They are totally right.
Kids are now empowered to do whatever they want.
My eldest is 14 going on 15 and if they get out of hand, smashing the place up or violence towards family members then there's nothing we can do but call the police, and they can't do much either,
Sorry for the rant but parenthood is tough.

[Tacoboto]

"Knushwood Butt" (nice name, very parental) is getting his home destroyed by an angsty 14 year old and is doing nothing about it? Seriously?

Maybe that's the problem. Parents care more about commenting online or complaining about parenting than *actually* doing parenting. Maybe the parents need to get off the internet before the kids do. Set the tone at the top.

[Knushwood Butt]

"Knushwood Butt" (nice name, very parental)

What??

I'd be interested to hear your 'friendly' advice, but please don't suggest doing anything you wouldn't take personal responsibility for.

And to date none of the professionals or experts have been able to do a thing, so really looking forward to your support.

[ZycoFox]

Parents mostly just hand their kid a PC/phone or whatever and let them go online unsupervised, that's some of the reason why you get so many screeching abusive morons in games.

I am against authoritarian laws (Aus/UK similar when it comes to "free" speech) but the parents obviously can't control their kids or don't want to.

[SoloZelot90]

It's harder to control with modern tech being in the house. Same applies to eating habits mind you. So easy to just give them "snacks" all the time.
Easy to hand the kid a phone or tablet or the TV for hours on end if it means you get some peace. Parenting isn't easy and you literally have to be violent towards yourself in order to actually "parent".

Not to mention every kid is different. Some are easier to handle.

[Knushwood Butt]

@solo

'Not to mention every kid is different. Some are easier to handle.'.

Very true.

[NotoriousWhiz]

Unfortunately, children do not pick their parents and many parents lack the capability to be a good parent either due to lack of time, lack of money, lack of knowledge, or maybe even lack of internet.

[SoloZelot90]

@notorious
And parents don't pick their kids either.
None of what you said has anything to do with parenting. A parent has 1 goal. Give their lives for their kids. Money doesn't matter unless the parent makes it matter. Time isn't an issue either...you make time for what is important to you. Knowledge is gained through experience and the Internet isn't necessary to gain that experience.

The problem is many parents view their kids like a right or a product. You don't have the "right" to having kids. And they're not a "product" for you and your plans.

[YourMommySpoils]

It's got nothing to do about parents or governments, when kids can access the shit they shouldn't without knowing. They can pretty much borrow or use other kids devices without control.

[Profchaos]

This will be country wide

[lukasmain]

"Seemingly"

They are not going to stop kids from playing games online with their friends or stop them from watching youtube videos. I mean I know Australia can be completely ridiculous at times, especially in regards to the Australian Classification Board when rating games, but come on.

[Profchaos]

We have a new governing body who seem to think they own the internet and can set laws that these companies who are not even based here have to comply with.

In short our government holds minimal cards yet thinks the deck is stacked.

They've admitted it's hard to police but we all know it will end up with a poorly thought out plan where you have to submit your id or something extremely risky to a third party and that will end in years when they get hacked

[rippermcrip]

I don't really play multiplayer and either do my children, but when I set up their child accounts ... I can disable basically all of the social aspects of it. I don't know how that works in practice, but why wouldn't that be sufficient to be compliant with the law?

[rippermcrip]

@Class

But Sony would be able to simply automatically block those features based on the birthdate to adhere to the law.

[NotoriousWhiz]

And what's to stop the child from entering a birth date claiming to be 10 years older than they actually are?

[rippermcrip]

@Notorius

Well that problem is going to exist on any platform in regards to this law. People will lie to get around it.

[Profchaos]

Parental controls actually work really well especially on Nintendo platforms that let parents interact via a mobile app as far as I can tell that wouldn't be sufficient as they shouldn't have an account that can go online if you choose it can so it would have to be like kids get an account and say Nintendo must ensure that can't communicate with anyone at all

[ThisPlaceIsToxic]

“Take my rights away, big daddy government.”

And I agree. Parents should have no say in the type of media their children consume. I’m glad newer generations have fewer rights than our parents did. Pull up that ladder, F them kids.

[NotoriousWhiz]

Your parents didn't have social media until they were already grown. Your parents didn't have Roblox. Your parents didn't have smartphones.

[Profchaos]

imagine if it was alcohol and we were suddenly cutting that off to kids would knowing what you know now about that and its impact on brain development impact your decision here because social media is effectively alcohol to a developing brain

[Inverno]

Government overreach, remember you're letting yourselves be told what to do by people who came into this life the same way you did and will go out the same way.

[PRIMORDUS]

Can just use a VPN, I'm sure it would work. 😎

[Inverno]

No need for a VPN. I've been lying about my age on the Internet since I was 10. There's no way for these sites or online services to verify if you are actually an adult. For this to work you'd need verification, kids to actually be honest and put in their real year of birth, and for parents to snitch on themselves and their kids. People in government are stupid. What're they gonna do? Monitor how many devices are on your network and send law enforcement to see if your 15 year old is playing on their PS? Buahaha

[P_Bomb]

My kids are teens and can handle YouTube and the occasional online game with their friends. I hear everything they’re saying lol. Keep the government outta my house thx.

[Class_Viceroy]

Parents claiming they hear everything their teen says....aka oblivious parent

[P_Bomb]

They’re literally beside me lol. It’s not that hard to monitor a round of Roblox.

[PRIMORDUS]

Definitely invest in a VPN as well, best investment I ever did 2yrs ago, even though I'm in the US. Torrent away lol. (I been doing that unprotected for 15+yrs before a VPN)😛

[P_Bomb]

I’ve definitely been thinking about it! Cheers for the tip!

[NotoriousWhiz]

Sounds like you're doing a good job. 👍 Unfortunately, you are probably in the 10% if that.

[X-23]

I hate to say it, but this is likely for the best. In this era parents have become increasingly irresponsible when it comes to investing time into what they're kids are getting into and setting boundaries. It's unfair to expect parents to be able to deal with the wide array of dysfunction that individuals over the internet can produce and expose your children too.
It's not as easy as just controlling the television anymore.

[bRuud83]

Even adults can’t handle social media. They are glued to the screen as well. How can you expect children to use it responsible than. People post the most dumbest shit on social media and believe the most dumbest shit posted by influencers. Look at the state of the world we live in. People can’t handle all the information they consume everyday.

[BeHunted]

Finally some good News. PC gaming is the future with no limitations.

[Knightofelemia]

Lol ban away there is always away around some stupid rule or law. All this is is nothing more but government over reach. My question is how are they going to enforce the new rule and law? Are the cops going to come in and arrest little Jimmy because he is playing Fortnite?

[PRIMORDUS]

If you have a VPN at home, you can use YT, make a new account if you like change your DOB etc. There are ways around anything.

[GrmpyolGamer]

We live in a clown country

[Dirty_Lemons]

I couldn't agree more with this. If the age of consent is 16, then the age to be on any form of social media platform should be the same. As a teacher, I see pupils in their early teenage years fixated on the goings on from social media. Real life issues have originated for some of my pupils from their interactions with other over, for example, Snapchat or playing Xbox.

Moving to a wider picture, in the UK we've had children stab each other over Snapchat "beefs". All of these social media platforms have some positive benefits, but for a child who is still developing - and despite seeing themselves as adults, they're absolutely still children - I wish the UK would follow Australia in this.

[Vits]

The more I hear about Australian politics and laws, the more it seems like a puritan hellhole.

[gammaray13]

Australia is the worse run country on the planet, also has the shitiest internet speeds, even 3rd world countries have better internet speeds

[NotoriousWhiz]

I'm sure their internet speeds will go way up once they've taken all the children off the net.