With the ban going into effect, I thought it might be helpful to allow people to share their experiences about the Australian teen social media ban and how it has affected them.
Note: For the Aussie Zone lemmy requirements, see here. Please use that thread for an Aussie Zone specific discussions or questions.
Good luck, everyone!
I’m a disabled adult that lives in an unsafe area, relying a lot on the internet for entertainment, information, and a connection to the world. As well as life and work increasingly involving being online for most of us.
I also don’t fancy the risk of identity theft or being doxxed. And even if I wasn’t in a position to be chronically online, these measures set a concerning precedent for online privacy and control of information that is much larger than our individual screen time.
Shortening post
YouTube: It will be locking me out of my YouTube account so I’ll lose all my saved playlists, can’t block harmful channels or recommendations (though the algorithms still function to serve them), could not choose to go premium to stop the scam/porn/alcohol and gambling ads (YouTube prohibits adblockers and not everyone knows about Brave browser or constantly updating the adblockers in an arms race) and I can’t watch certain favourite songs or my mates gaming channel.
I am still able to find plenty of uncensored material that’s not suitable for children while signed out though. So that’s something /s
Facebook: There are people I’d like to casually keep in touch with that are more likely to use the platform than text or email. Guess I kiss acquaintances goodbye? Don’t get to check out events if one might be in a pub or have a risqué flyer? There are also disability support groups on there.
Twitch: Can’t watch my friend’s content or use the platform. This better not affect my Minecraft.
Reddit: This will prevent the choice of going back and talking to our Redditor buds who didn’t migrate over to Lemmy. (The original Melbourne Daily Discussion Thread began on Reddit and before the exodus everyone had been internet friends for a long time.) There are disability support groups on there I mainly lurked but now will not be able to ask questions. Art subs too.
Also if I want to go and read only I may be prevented without an account. I also didn’t get it together in time to back up my comments in order to delete my account, so I may not get to.
TikTok: Hate the platform and avoid it as much as possible but increasingly everything is being put on it. Will not be able to watch friend’s channel.
Everything else: I don’t use it but resent being treated like a child and told that I can’t unless I submit to an unreasonable invasion of privacy. Cannot even look at friends stuff without an account to stay in the loop.
More broadly the UK version of this has shut down a number of small forums. So they’re gone. And there is still the potential for Australia or other countries to expand the targeted sites in future and do the same. Deciding on what they want to do and who can afford to fight or comply.
I hope this is an embarrassing fail. But if this precedent is set and the scope is allowed to creep there is the possibility that there won’t be independent alternatives to the large tech companies and they will be empowered to behave worse.
Also did I mention the control of information flow and potential for censorship? Even if only social media is restricted?
But it isn’t. It’s search engine sign-ins too.
Pretty much everything could be restricted, from accessing information about politics to LGBTI+ or sexual health/reproductive care. Mental health and suicide prevention. Having to go to a restaurants Facebook page to check if it’s accessible or has allergens because they might not have an independent website.
Tbh once they started cracking down on adblockers I switched to uBlock Origin and haven’t had any problems since. Which is funny, because I previously used Adblock Plus specifically because I liked their “acceptable ads standard”, where they would let through ads that are designed unobtrusively. UBO doesn’t support this. So now instead of less terrible ads getting through, YouTube’s actions have caused me to get rid of all ads, entirely. Way to shoot yourselves in the foot there, guys.
I have never had a TikTok account. Occasionally people send links, and those work just fine in the web browser on a computer. On mobile they try to force you to download the app though.
I believe data dumps of Reddit are available from third parties which would help you with this, if you want.
I just lazily switched to Brave because phone and it stopped the ads.
I mostly wanted to back up a copy of my comments for myself and then wipe them off Reddit, but the process of installing the GitHub tool to grab my posts didn’t quite work and I was very tired.
Great insight into how my country instituting this would not effect me at all.
All those services are fucking garbage. Maybe there’s better things to do online than eat shit?
I mentioned this. There’s a real possibility that as time goes on more of the remaining better stuff to do is going to be choked out.
(Kids actually may have swarmed to these shitty services in the first place because their age appropriate games and containment zones died off ie flash games and Club Penguin.)
But see the independent forums that got killed by the UK bill - parenting, green living, Linux gaming.
I hope they don’t get the forum I planned to join for support and info about my medically complex pet. Or Whirlpool which I considered going back to if I could only find my login. Or Overclockers. Or the brewing forums. This is going to get something that matters to someone at some point.
And for some platforms like YouTube they’ve already squashed competition. There’s much less to watch on competitors like Peertube, Dailymotion or Tubi, and another I forget the name of (Odyssey?) is straight up cooker shit. So as much as I try to avoid ads and bad algorithms I get waterboarded with rage bait and slop.
I try MMOs but honestly the chat is full of cooker stuff and people raging. Minecraft servers are full of kiddies and I wouldn’t touch Roblox or Call of Duty with a ten foot pole (and I’m hoping Steam doesn’t get got).
That’s the point. Enshittification is coming for all of it.
And even if you use no social media or don’t game at all these restrictions affect search engines. You may not be allowed to access information without giving up way too much of your privacy.
But I am honestly open to any suggestions for better things to do on the internet. Perhaps you have some ideas I might like.
I used to be more social and outdoorsy when I was more able and having my world dwindle down to either this shit or exclusively solitary hobbies is driving me insane.
What the heck is “cooker” referring to?
Oh, it’s an Aussie slang word referring to a conspiracy theorist, often one that’s engaging in antisocial behaviours or very far down the rabbit hole and imposing it on others.
Think aggressively screaming antivaxers, sovereign citizens, Qanon, you get the picture. Edit: Oh yeah and sometimes they can also be really racist.
It’s not a pleasant thing
If you’re interested in multiplayer games with a more mature playerbase, may I recommend the Age of Empires franchise? With its most popular game having originally released in 1999, but being rereleased in an excellent remaster in 2019, plus a brand new entry in the franchise in 2021 and remasters of the other games having come in 2018, 2020, and 2024, you get the feel of playing a modern game, with an audience that is mostly more mature purely because they’re older (or because they learn the community norms from people who are older).
That said, Minecraft is a very diverse game, and I’m sure there would be some corners of it that are more mature. I know there’s an ongoing project to very faithfully recreate the entire Middle Earth, I assume that attracts a more mature type.
Just touching on the RPGs mentioned in another comment, if sitting up at the table is the problem, the prevalence of virtual tabletops and online TTRPGs these days may mitigate that concern. If you can sit at your computer for video games or social media, you can likely also sit at it for an RPG. Though focus may be its own issue still, I can’t speak to your experience with that since it’s so personal.
I actually played Age of Empires when it was on disc! I had no idea it was an mmo now. Thanks, I’ll have to sort the problem of almost full drive and give it a try.
Oh sorry, it’s not. Still an RTS. I just figured since you had mentioned MMOs, Minecraft, Roblox, and CoD, a specific genre wasn’t necessarily what you were looking for. But if you are interested, the games are on Steam and the Xbox store for Windows, under the “Definitive Edition” titles (Age of Empires 1, 2, and 3: Definitive Edition), or Age of Mythology: Retold, as well as the new Age of Empires IV. AoE2, 4, and Mythology are also on Xbox and Playstation with a pretty clever controller-friendly control scheme.
Ha sorry, still a good suggestion though
My suggestion would be to do something. Make something. Learn to code, learn graphic design, pick up another language, study a topic you’re interested in.
Whatever your health issues are there is a lot that you can do indoors - I’m assuming given how much you’ve been able to type that you can type, so learning to code is a great option.
There’s also role playing games - getting into a regular d and d game can be a great, social thing to do that is way more fulfilling than passively consuming content.
On top of all of that, pirate movies, pirate tv shows.
That would be my advice anyway.
Those are good ones.
I used to speak another language and unsuccessfully tried to code but my concentration is pretty bad.
I played a couple of sessions of tabletop games in the past but had to leave early because can’t sit upright for that long.
I would pirate but due to risks and lacking savvy I tend to just find the movies that haven’t been copyright struck yet and find art tutorials on social media. I’m genuinely considering getting myself some older physical media like the secondhand PS2 plus games and dvds, also a cd player or discman and adding to my collection of old cds. And getting lifts to the op shop or library for books.
I considered actual art classes but that’s not doable yet.
It’s mostly low energy social or entertainment for bad days that I’m after (or dopamine hits) but as you say those platforms are shit.
I get that you may have some very significant roadblocks in your life - and they may keep you from doing some things - but they don’t keep you from doing everything.
Your choices are your own to make but if you’re not happy just passively consuming brainrot - and doing so could violate your privacy - then you CAN do something else.
If your concentration is shit then work on getting better at it. If you can’t take art classes just make art.
There are always going to be a million reasons why you can’t or shouldn’t do something. These don’t mean the things are impossible. Just that they’re challenging.
Look - it’s not in me to tell you how to live your life. It doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. But I will say that a lot of what you just wrote sounds like excuses.
You don’t need to make excuses to me - because I don’t care. But please don’t make them to yourself.
If you’re happy with the way things are then cool. If not then there are other paths forward. If you want to take them.
It’s not excuses. I’m definitely not happy with the situation and working on changing it, don’t worry. (I had been gardening in pots before things worsened.)
The problem other than screentime though is that a. the platforms suck but not many good alternatives exist anymore and can potentially be wiped out, b. friends on shit platforms won’t leave or use email so they’re gone (especially international friends), and c. instead of addressing the actual harmful stuff done for profit the government simply pulled a 1984.
The biggest concern is the last one. The changes this will have on freedom of information and privacy. Potential escalation.
I guess I’m just going to have to find alternatives and hope nothing happens to this place.
I agree with you wholeheartedly about c.
All over the world governments are doing fuck all about rampant disinformation and destabilization from foreign actors with ill intent while ratcheting up attempts to spy on their own citizens.
A competent governments focus would be on stopping this bullshit from happening, not putting the screws to their own citizens.
While it could be argued that I’d verification would lessen or eliminate foreign actors on social media platforms, I doubt that argument would hold water when the reality of it all sets in.
Agreed. You’d hope it could curb that but then that would probably only make stolen identities more valuable.
I have a feeling my life is about to get more analog. As soon as I figure out oil paints