Indonesia is set to block teenagers from social media apps, stating it will prevent anyone under 16 from having accounts on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live, and Roblox, according to an Associated Press report. The restrictions will begin on March 28 and continue until all platforms comply with the ruling, the government said.
Indonesian Communication and Digital Affairs Minister Meutya Hafid said there are “clear” reasons for the bans.
“Our children face increasingly real threats,” Hafid said. “From exposure to pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud, and most importantly, addiction. The government is here so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giant of algorithms.”
It’s funny, she doesn’t mention gambling. In many countries, gambling is allowed not just through video games, but through you banking app! Sport gambling ads proliferate all over the world, on TV, billboards, public transport, through banking services you use that may partner with gambling companies, etc… And yet this doesn’t seem to be a major concern for governments.
The amount of misinformation on TikTok is actually mindblowing.
However, like any other platforms, it is just platform, there will always be good and bad contents.
It is not the platforms to be moderated, it is the contents to be moderated.
IMO if the platforms have “minors friendly mode" toggled on by default, and age verification (or age declaration) of some sort would be required to “unlock" adult mode, then anyone who is minor, and anyone have no intention to consume “adult content" can choose not to age verify, simple fix.
IMO it is stupid to reinvent the wheels by passing new laws try to moderate content, we already have the laws in place in physical world, governments just need say those are also applicable to digital world, and actually enforce the laws.
I know thats anther rabbit hole, BUT keep duct taping things is not really fixing anything.
I don’t doubt there is misinformation on TikTok, but as you pointed at, minsinformation is on other platforms too, including YouTube, and there are good content creators on TikTok.
Is the misinformation objectively worse on TikTok?
I am personally not on TikTok, but I have been itching to get on it, precisely because there are few creators I like whose videos I see on Twitter and YouTube. If the same creator is active on YouTube, I’m obviously not going to feel the need to follow them on TikTok, but many are not. The problem is, it’s really hard to create a TikTok account from web and to use exclusively on web.
What is “adult content” on platforms like YouTube and TikTok that already don’t allow NSFW content?
I agree with your point about YouTube for learning, despite it following the short form content trend that Tiktok popularized, there is nothing else like it in terms of the sheer amount of information it has like full length courses to learn almost anything you want.
And although Tiktok can be useful, their algorithms are so much worse than YouTube, and from what I’ve seen many people speak on topics that they have no clue about yet they have huge followings. Tiktok thrives on conformity bias and misinformation.
To add, short form content is detrimental to mental health and one’s attention span. Tiktok is largely to blame for the decline in literacy and critical thinking. They leverage the psychology of people to push agendas and influence opinions through short form videos that dont give you a second to think before something else shows up immediately.
As for the reason to ban it for people under 16, I agree with the addiction part. They should just get rid of it all together for that reason alone, but for the other reasons like adult content, that’s a huge over reach, and another excuse for collecting user data and eroding privacy.
I would be thinking of like a manual/ automated PEGI method to categorize the contents, and viewers cpuls be prompted to declare if they aure they wanto watch that before it plays.
For numerous stupid tiktok challenge, misinformed “educational" content or the like, that falls into a rabbit hole of “freedom of expression", which warrants a much deeper discission.
However, as the others pointed out, Tiktok is well known for violating data protection laws and helping chinese government spreading the political propaganda (well, so does Facebook, isnt it?), which does justify a ban, from my totally biased view.
Yes. That is the obvious reason to be against TikTok from a privacy standpoint.
But to me the ban is not justified. Not unless you’re also banning YouTube and Facebook. The best solution is to regulate all platforms, and passing better privacy laws. Ban the monetizing of personal data and fine the hell out of the companies that violate the law. Also break up monopolies. Break up Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp into separate companies.
It is much easier to destroy something than to build/repair/improve something. Most politicians are short sighted and grossly ignorant, arrogant and incompetent, I would be surprised if they went for a more difficult route (i.e. build/repair/improve something).
Shorts in general are bad for your brain. It ruins your attention span. I would never recommend an app like that to children. It doesn’t matter how much “educational” content it has. I never installed TikTok on my phone and I disabled sorts in my Youtube app.