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https://www.techdirt.com/2022/09/20/the-internet-is-not-disneyland-people-should-stop-demanding-it-become-disneyland/>
"Disneyland can be a fun experience for kids (and potentially a frustrating one
for parents), but it’s a very controlled environment in which everything is set
up to bend over backwards to be welcoming to children. And that’s great for
what it is, but the world would kinda suck if everything was Disneyland. I
mean, some countries have tried that, and it’s… not great, especially if you
believe in basic freedoms.
Here’s the thing: Disneyland’s limits are great for a place to visit
occasionally. As a vacation. But it’s not the real world. And we shouldn’t be
seeking to remake the real world into Disneyland. And I think it’s especially
true that most parents wouldn’t want to raise their kids
in Disneyland and
then send them out into the real world upon turning 18, and assuming they’ll be
fully equipped to deal with the real world.
Yet that’s exactly what some busybody politicians (with support of the media)
have been trying to do. They want to pass new laws that effectively demand that
the internet act like Disneyland. Everything must be safe for kids. That means
much greater surveillance and much less freedom… but “safe for kids.”
Except it’s not. Disneyland is fantasyland. It’s not real life. And we don’t
train kids how to be thoughtful participants in society if we raise them in
Disneyland.
I had a discussion recently about these bills — things like California’s Age
Appropriate Design Code or Congress’s Kids Online Safety Act — where there are
legitimate concerns about kids being safe online, but it seems like we ought to
think about the digital world the same way we think about the real world.
Parents have a role not just in limiting where kids can go when they’re young,
but also
giving kids the tools, as they grow, to handle various situations."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
