Parliament is going to debate the petition "Do not ban social media for 16s" - https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/757233 on 2 November 2026.

Reasons for the ban include mental health harms, addiction, and sleep deprivation. Companies have been held liable for knowingly designing platforms with addictive features that harm young users: https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/31/meta-was-finally-held-accountable-for-harming-teens-now-what/.

Enforcing a ban will require everyone who uses "social media" to submit their identity to untrustworthy age verification providers. It can force an ultimatum: delete "social media accounts", submit ID or bypass the check. I would rather delete my accounts than submit my ID.

Unlike with in-person ID checks, your ID is photographed/scanned and stored in a centralised database, waiting to be hacked.

Any method of enforcing online age verification can and will be bypassed by the most determined people. A reason I'd speculate on is due to being privacy conscious and understanding the very real risks of identity theft through submitting ID online.

As a counter-alternative to age verification I suggest:

• Regulating the algorithm/design of major platforms
  
• Platform accountability for design harms
  
• Digital literacy / education
  
• Better support and advice for parents
  
• Parents talking to their kids about what they see online
  

Multiple scientists, organisations and companies have already objected the age verification approach:

• https://csa-scientist-open-letter.org/ageverif-Feb2026
  
• https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/companies-and-civil-society-warn-that-uk-is-undermining-open-web/
  

Regarding identity theft, misuse and other data security risks, see:

• https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/10/id-verification-giant-idscan-confirms-data-breach-with-more-than-150-million-drivers-licenses-stolen/
  
• https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/26/uk-visa-portal-spilled-thousands-of-applicants-passports-and-selfies-online-and-hasnt-fixed-the-leak/
  
• https://cybernews.com/security/eu-age-verification-app-hack/
  
• https://reclaimthenet.org/yoti-gdpr-fine-age-verification
  
• https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2026/02/age-verification-vendor-persona-left-frontend-exposed
  
• https://cybernews.com/security/global-data-leak-exposes-billion-records/
  
• https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/roblox-reddit-and-discord-users-compelled-to-use-biometric-id-system-backed-by-palantir-co-founder-peter-thiel/
  
• https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-claim-discord-breach-exposed-data-of-55-million-users/
  
• https://reclaimthenet.org/age-verification-systems-france-privacy-risks-ai-forensics-report
  
• https://www.idstrong.com/sentinel/tea-app-data-breach/
  
• https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/06/hack-age-verification-company-shows-privacy-danger-social-media-laws
  
• https://thehackernews.com/2022/12/ftc-fines-fortnite-maker-epic-games-275.html
  
• https://www.biometricupdate.com/202208/id-me-finds-itself-accused-of-biometric-data-privacy-violation
  
• https://cybernews.com/security/popular-apps-left-biometric-data-ids-of-millions-of-users-in-danger/
  

The UK is a nightmare police state and needs to be dismantled ASAP, independence for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland and overseas territories given away to other countries, and the monarchy abolished (everyone involved in that family is a criminal.)

I agree that uk is a bit of a police state. It arrests more people for speech than China, Russia, Iran, etc. combined.

Though I don't see a practical benefit of being independent nations unless also remaining as a non-EU member state and seeking alternative trade deals.

I hope that they don't force age registration for social media - I'd hate to have to always use a vpn.

I hope that they don't force age registration for social media - I'd hate to have to always use a vpn.

Age restrictions for young people. Not age restrictions for senior citizens. You are safe.

People forget that nothing is free. You are the product with most social media. If you are worried so much about privacy, then you forgot you clicked "OK" with the Terms and Agreements. They have everything you do, they know exactly how many times you clicked, liked, shared, watched... everything is recorded, and shared to third party vendors. Billions of dollars are fed into these companies to keep you online to do these behaviours. No breaks, just endless scrolling of pretty much nonsense so you stay online.

So what is the solution besides banning a form of digital communication that has few or no regulations or moderation. Where algorithms supersede critical thinking. Where information gets constantly manipulated to change your point of view? How you vote? What you believe in?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse
" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_(information_technology) "

You can start there.

Or continue to become the product of social manipulation by mega billionaires.

End rant.

Edited 2026-10-18 00:51:54