this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2025
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youtube? the place with free quality documentaries, free knowledge in the easiest to digest video form about a huge variety of topics? the spot where you can learn life skills, cooking, hobbies, maths, physics, programming, among many others, with visualised tutorials showing every part of every step with explenations?
what on earth is happening to the internet these days? absolute insanity
social media is shit and i get restricting twitter or tiktok, but youtube? it seems so bizarre to me
While all of that might be true, YouTube is also a for-profit cesspool of trash content, hate speech, and misinformation. An entire generation of gen z manosphere Nazi bootlickers got where they are watching "gaming videos" on YouTube.
It auto plays by default and their algorithms are dogshit, so you might start watching an educational video with your kid, but end up on a flat earth video fifteen minutes later, or much much worse.
When my son was younger, we severely limited his YouTube time and closely monitored what he was watching on it. Most parents don't do that.
I dislike legislation like this too, but we're not talking about PBS or a library here. Kids truly shouldn't be on YouTube unattended.
Parenting should stay with parents. The more power the government gets, the more they will abuse it. When companies are restricted, they will see this as an opportunity to better identify adults better.
The expression "it takes a village to raise a child" applies here. It's impossible for a parent to be with their child at all times. Children aren't always at home, and a lot of parents suck, don't care, or are just misinformed. YouTube is available everywhere, including at schools and libraries. Look at it like smoking. We recognize that cigarettes are dangerous and cause cancer, therefore children can't buy them. Social media companies - and let's stop pretending YouTube isn't social media, it very much is - are today's big tobacco. They need regulated, and not doing so is causing tremendous societal harm.
I understand parents can't be around their children 24/7. Companies and organizations have a lot of products already to restrict and limit internet access. Schools and libraries should use these tools as they or as their community sees fit.
If you want to compare it to tobacco products, the main difference is to identify as an adult all you need is an ID. One person at the cashier sees it and it's done. Online activity is more personal. It allows companies and social media to be even more toxic to adults by being able to identify adults better.
Also kids, no matter how restricted it is, will smoke if they wanted to. The same will happen with these social media restrictions excepts that adults will suffer. This will be only the beginning. More and more restrictions will come from this. That's just how governments work.
Red flags should go up automatically with these "save the children" laws.