"Will this policy break the internet" is an important one. At least for me and the handful of folks who were online in the 90s.
Age-gating social media, or otherwise making platforms/sites liable if kids see sensitive content there, is one way of breaking the internet.
It has not been going well in the UK, where making sites liable if kids see 'sensitive' content has meant geoblocks on content that could be considered sensitive, pending Know Your Customer verification that the person on the other end of the web browser is an adult.
My column in today's Post went through some of those issues. New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Luxon seems very keen on setting age gates on social media. Any policy putting liability on platforms if kids access the platform will require others to prove that they're adults - the same kind of KYC mess that the UK is getting itself into.
Depressingly, a proposed bill in the biscuit tin, from Labour, suggests fully following the UK in penalising sites that don't do enough to keep kids from viewing sensitive content.
Breaking the internet should not be a vote-winner. C'mon.
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