Most in Germany want Australia-style social media ban: poll – DW – 11/30/2024
www.dw.com
A survey has shown that a majority in Germany would support banning social media use for those under 16. This week, Australian lawmakers approved legislation to that effect.

Summary

A YouGov poll revealed that 77% of Germans support banning social media for those under 16, similar to a new Australian law.

The survey found that 82% believe social media harms young people, citing harmful content and addiction.

In Australia, the law fines platforms up to AUD 49.5 million (€30.5M) for allowing under-16s to create accounts, with enforcement trials set before implementation next year. Critics

  • douglasg14b@lemmy.worldEnglish
    21·
    13 hours ago

    It most definitely is possible in federated networks to be clear.

    Federated networks are extremely vulnerable to bots. And “organic” online narrative is easily manipulated with bots and bot driven content.

    We see this in centralized platforms like Reddit which have mature and centralized bot detection and control mechanisms which are largely ineffective in an ideal scenario for them to be the most effective.

    The only saving grace for federated services right now is that they are simply far too small to be worth the time and money to manipulate narratives on. The user bases are infinitesimal in comparison to mainstream social media.

    This changes if their popularity skyrockets. The only thing it takes to manipulate opinions and narrative is money and a vulnerable target. The fediverse is largely a vulnerable target and current mega corporations have more than enough money to do what they need done a million times over.

    • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      13 hours ago

      You misread my comment. I do agree that manipulation is possible in federated systems. What’s not possible is “chat control” / spying on individual communication on a large scale.