Fragile Firewalls |
Australia’s decision to bar under-16s from social media is rooted in an anxiety that now spans continents: parents feel they are losing the battle to keep their children safe online. The stories that propelled this move ~ relentless cyberbullying, algorithm-driven spirals of harmful content, and the inability of tech giants to meaningfully self-regulate ~ reflect genuine anguish. But as the law takes effect, its flaws are already visible. The ban promises order, but in practice it may offer little more than an illusion of control. The first cracks appeared even before enforcement began on Tuesday.
Teenagers, supposedly the targets of this sweeping reform, needed only minutes to bypass the system. Age-verification tools designed to underpin the law ~ facial scans, age inference, and digital ID checks ~ are inconsistent, easy to fool, and loaded with privacy risks. A parent’s........