[AmericanChopper]

I would argue that it is the responsibility of parents to decide how to do that. But if you want a legislative solution, there already is one (COPPA) which prevents people under the age of 13 from joining social media.

If you think those legal protections aren’t fit for purpose (they were created long before social media even existed), then you should take that up with your legislators. I personally wouldn’t trust them to approach that task without implementing something horribly tyrannical, like implementing a requirement for a full KYC process for creating social media accounts. So I’d advise that you be careful what you ask for in that respect.

[ryandrake]

> But if you want a legislative solution, there already is one (COPPA) which prevents people under the age of 13 from joining social media.

Nothing (besides parents) can prevent people under the age of 13 from joining social media. The kids just lie about their age. Everyone knows how to lie about their age to get something they want, from the time they're in kindergarten.

[AmericanChopper]

And I’d suggest that’s absolutely the way you want it to be. The consequences of pushing a full blown KYC regime on all social media are pretty dystopian.

The value COPPA does provide is as a tool parents can use. If they report their underage children’s social media accounts, they will be removed. But of course they still have to actually do the parenting, which is how it should be. I think you shouldn’t want government to takeover those responsibilities for them.