Proposed law in Minnesota would ban algorithms to protect the children

I'm almost interested to backtrace and find out exactly when "algorithm" became the accepted abbreviation for "recommendation algorithm". Almost, but not quite.

Also, whenever I see anything about legislators trying to make laws about what can and can't be done to "children's accounts" online, I laugh. Surely no child would ever be able to click the "I am over 18" checkbox unless they were truly over 18, right? Nah, couldn't happen.

I think in some countries, those sites require a governmental ID number to prove your age or something, but... how hard is it for a kid to peek at their parent's card, or for a parent to make an account for a kid to use? Expecting any internet service can tell whether a child is currently using any given account is ridiculous without serious data collection and privacy violations.

Merits of the bill aside, I think the headline is spun in a way to make the bill seem totally witless, when it's not. There could be more specific wording, of course, and debating the actual merits of the bill is always fair game, but the title reads as if someone just said "Algorithms are bad for children!" and left it at that. The bill is clearly about content prioritization targeted at minors.

Which algorithms? Better not ban any algorithms dealing with traffic lights!