© Off-Guardian Org
It's been said more times than anyone can count, but any "social media ban" based on age would - in reality - be an excuse to require all users to verify their identity and thereby end online anonymity, and eventually usher in government backed digital ID apps.
The good news is that some dissenters in the Lords seems to be aware of this danger, and spoke of it openly:
...though I would add, in this case, the consequences are far from "unintended". The side effect is the intended effect.
The press are, naturally, toeing the line. The Guardian, faithful agenda-setters that they are, try to sell Sir Keir Starmer as reluctant to institute such a ban, and that the Lords are "pressuring" him to act.
This is an obvious and rather pitiful lie, this ban has clearly been the desired outcome for months. But faux reluctance is always important when becoming a tyrant. Always better to appear to be answering the call than imposing your will.
As ever, this isn't just a UK issue. Australia got the ball rolling and the EU isn't far behind.
Meanwhile, across pond, the US version of the same legislation has been "revived" according to Reclaim the Net, and Canadian officials are drawing up plans of their own, with the slightest wrinkle of a lower age cut-off.
Even as the leaders of the "free world" gather in Davos to take pot shots at one another, the evident truth is they either agree on their most fundamental policies, or the power to make those decisions is entirely out of their hands.
As the world powers pretend to conflict, the reality is they move in concert toward the same end.
We need to protect our children from the lack of compassion our regressing culture has grown.
Be it restrictions or the like, some of our young people have chosen to end their life due to the judgement of the herd.
These clicky clubs of attack politics and non response tactics can and surely do have serious effects on fragile young minds.
See recent SOTT articles on gender and iPhone data disconnection in regards to adults.