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by michaelt 213 days ago
> I haven’t looked, but I’m assuming this ban already applies to YouTube, right?

Apparently someone from the government looks at the site and assesses how 'core' the online social interaction is to the site.

Banned: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, Kick and Twitch

Not banned (yet): Pintrest, YouTube Kids, Google Classroom, WhatsApp, Discord, online games like Roblox, AI chat.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyp9d3ddqyo

3 comments

I'm surprised that Discord isn't part of that ban since it seems so much more social media like. One could argue that it has much smaller private and semi-private groups but there are large servers with hundreds of thousands or even millions of users that are basically the same as Reddit content and user wise.
Steam straddles the line between gaming and social too.
This list indeed seems to be a random selection
Being a parent myself, the list is not random. The ones in the banned list deserve to be there. I would argue Youtube Kids needs to be banned too.
IF the filters actually worked for youtube kids then i would not have an issue with it, some very low effort AI crap keep showing up with the latest brain rot song so i agree.
Discord and Roblox are probably the grooming/edating center of the net right now. The banned ones are just SFW sites where they can see some titties.
Roblox apparently was at risk of being banned but worked with the government to implement extra controls
I thought YT Kids doesn't have comments? Watching videos etc is still possible with the ban.
Seems reasonable to me.
If the aim was to limit children exposure to social messengers, then Discord absolutely must be on the list. I don't know the backstory, but it seems to be a typical exercise of political power by the people lacking expertise in the field.