A letter I sent my senators, please consider similar.

[Ken]

I'm simply suggesting giving parents new tools through the cellular providers to better monitor and control what their children are doing.

That's a good thing that will probably work well for involved and caring parents. But you probably know better than I do that not all parents are, and that their children are likely to be at increased risk of inappropriate media usage.

I had a student a couple of years ago at a different school who was badly beaten by his stepdad and thrown out of the house and forced to couch surf with friends through the end of his senior year because the parents found out he was gay.

Do you suppose his phone is on a family plan?

How far does your concern for children with bad parents extend?

Should we have universal vaccine mandates because some bad parents neglect to vaccinate their children?
Should we put speed governors on all vehicles because some bad parents don't regulate their children's car usage?
Should we ban junk food and sodas because some bad parents don't provide their children with healthy diets?
Should we ban children from working on family farms because some bad parents let their children take unnecessary risks with heavy machinery?
Should we ban spanking because some bad parents turn it into abuse?

[Josh]

Ken,

Do you really think children should have access to pornography? Give a yes or no answer.

[Ken]

Ken,

Do you really think children should have access to pornography? Give a yes or no answer.

Of course not. But this isn't about pornography. Pornography is already filtered off all major social media sites. Try posting porn videos to TikTok or Instagram and see how far that gets you.

Outsider is basically proposing to turn off the internet for anyone under 21 which is simply a ridiculous proposal that will never fly or pass Constitutional muster.

[Outsider]

And what do you define as "social media"?

Is MennoNet social media?
Is Discord social media?
Is YouTube social media?
Is WhatsAp social media?
Is 4Chan social media?
Is Reddit Social Media?
Are the Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo online game forums social media?
Is BePerk social media?
Is GameSpot social media?
Is Gaia social media?

Absolutely. But let me remind you here, I'm not the one who wanted to censor medical/political information I disagree with. That was your enthusiastic vision.

As for gaming, there could be a similar ID for kids to be able to log in to gaming. No adults allowed.

I don't think many younger than 21 people are posting on Mennonet- most seem to be well above 30, at least the ones who post.

[Ken]

Absolutely. But let me remind you here, I'm not the one who wanted to censor medical/political information I disagree with. That was your enthusiastic vision.

Not at all. We are both talking about the same exact thing, which is to create safe spaces online for children.

You are proposing an intrusive top-down big-state regulatory approach which would require a new digital national ID system and then some sort of intrusive government agency that would be tasked with reviewing the content of each and every web site and phone app to determine if it should be subject to age restrictions or not. It isn't enough to simply put in place some universal online government ID system for age verification. You also have to have the government review and specify which apps and web sites such an age restriction would apply to.

I am simply proposing giving parents better tools so they can do it for themselves without the involvement of the government.

[Josh]

The country we curremtly inhabit is one where children as young as age 9 are exposed pornography and there are virtually no controls to prevent it. The onus is entirely put on parents to figure out complex filtering software which doesn’t work half of the time anyway.

The responsibility needs to be placed on the pornographers. We expect tobacco companies and convenience stores not to give cigarettes and vapes to children. We expect a bar not to serve liquor to children. And we have shut down the industry’s complaints it would be too hard to do so. No more excuses - if a store sells tobacco to any child, THEY take full responsibility.

Pornographers should be no different. If THEY allow a child to view pornography, they need to take full responsibility.

[Ken]

The country we curremtly inhabit is one where children as young as age 9 are exposed pornography and there are virtually no controls to prevent it. The onus is entirely put on parents to figure out complex filtering software which doesn’t work half of the time anyway.

The responsibility needs to be placed on the pornographers. We expect tobacco companies and convenience stores not to give cigarettes and vapes to children. We expect a bar not to serve liquor to children. And we have shut down the industry’s complaints it would be too hard to do so. No more excuses - if a store sells tobacco to any child, THEY take full responsibility.

Pornographers should be no different. If THEY allow a child to view pornography, they need to take full responsibility.

What is with your obsession with pornography? Paid pornography is already behind paywalls. And pornography is already banned from every major social media platform. Porn sites are also easily filtered. If you want your kids to live porn-free lives, then just let them stay on TikTok and Instagram full time. They will encounter no porn there.

Every study and survey about the dangers of social media to children and teens doesn't even mention pornography. Porn doesn't even make the list. It is a whole lot of other concerns.

And as far as blocking porn and adult content? I can easily do that on my kid's phones using the Verizon family control app. And I can also easily do it on my home network using Google's Family Web Option. And it is already blocked on their school WiFi and school Chromebooks. Is it perfect and 100%? No. But no government-run age-based ID system will be perfect either.

[RZehr]

And I think pictures of scantily clad people should also be blocked. Instagram is known for these.

There is no need for Christians to be free speech absolutists. In fact we are told to restrict our own speech. So that is some insight into what God thinks.

[temporal1]

The country we curremtly inhabit is one where children as young as age 9 are exposed pornography and there are virtually no controls to prevent it. The onus is entirely put on parents to figure out complex filtering software which doesn’t work half of the time anyway.

The responsibility needs to be placed on the pornographers. We expect tobacco companies and convenience stores not to give cigarettes and vapes to children. We expect a bar not to serve liquor to children. And we have shut down the industry’s complaints it would be too hard to do so. No more excuses - if a store sells tobacco to any child, THEY take full responsibility.

Pornographers should be no different. If THEY allow a child to view pornography, they need to take full responsibility.

Current problems in public school curriculum, libraries, and public libraries should not be overlooked.
Some states are wanting measures taken against the ALA / AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION ..

P.2 / “Public Libraries. 21st Century Saloons?”
viewtopic.php?t=2123&start=10

As Outsider describes, “When gov becomes the pornographer” .. too much has been trusted for too long.
There comes a day of reckoning.

The pushers are no longer shady-looking characters in trench coats hiding in dark corners ..
The current White House is promoting and demanding ..

Young students attend schools where (ugly) carnal flags are in full display, inside+outside buildings, on clothing, books, bags, what have you. Who dares mention the obvious ugly factor? It’s bizarre. In this case, ugly makes sense.

[Josh]

What is with your obsession with pornography?

Because I have multiple friends who were exposed to it at a young age, with a lot of damage from that. It really hurts young children. I have 2 friends who opened up to me and told me there were exposed at the age of 9 or 10. They simply had normal access to the Internet.

Paid pornography is already behind paywalls.

That doesn’t do anything about stuff that is free, which is what young children get exposed to.

And pornography is already banned from every major social media platform. Porn sites are also easily filtered. If you want your kids to live porn-free lives, then just let them stay on TikTok and Instagram full time. They will encounter no porn there.

I don’t use TikTok and Instagram specifically because of a lot of the obscene material I have casually encountered there.

Every study and survey about the dangers of social media to children and teens doesn't even mention pornography. Porn doesn't even make the list. It is a whole lot of other concerns.

I don’t think children should be using social media either.

And as far as blocking porn and adult content? I can easily do that on my kid's phones using the Verizon family control app. And I can also easily do it on my home network using Google's Family Web Option. And it is already blocked on their school WiFi and school Chromebooks. Is it perfect and 100%? No. But no government-run age-based ID system will be perfect either.

Here’s a better idea: stop having open access to pornography on the Internet. Make pornographers accountable just like tobacco companies are.

We used to let children freely buy tobacco and the tobacco industry first claimed it wasn’t harmful to kids, then claimed they didn’t market to kids, then claimed it would violate some kind of rights or freedoms to have strict age verification. All of these claims turned out to be false. We now have an orderly system where adults can purchase tobacco but children don’t have access to it.