It’s parent’s responsibility to look after their kids - not the government’s job. Every consumer computing platform has parental controls.
the answer here of course is very simple, you teach your kid what she is or isn't allowed to do "online" just like you do IRL. and you verify by either sharing the account so you can see what is being installed and/or checking the device...
parenting ain't that complicated...
Is this method of parenting that you are advocating for working out okay for you or do you not have children?
Myself, I am childless and I do not like KOSA as I am unwilling to give up the anonymous internet to keep the kids safe. At the same time I do think there is room for some regulation here.
The problem - especially in USA is that whoever is in power when the "regulation" is added - whatever that regulation is - will be 100% political thing. And say 50% of people will not be happy about it. The power shifts, we either scrape or put other "regulations" in place to make the other 50% of people happy - ad infinitum... I am against regulations mostly because they are never about "protecting kids" or whatever the "spirit" should be - they are always political in nature (e.g. your kids should NOT read these books nonsense...)
You can use parental controls and block kirds access to sites you found objectionable in the past, just as you can keep your kids out of buildings you jave previously inspected for lead paint.
OTOH, I suspect people raising this objection (note that I am not, even if I think I have an understanding of how they might apply the analogy) would prefer to have some guarantee that people aren't doing the equivalent of repainting with lead paint after the parents have inspected, and would often even prefer not have to do the equivalent of inspecting every virtual building their children might enter for the digital equivalent of lead paint.
This isn’t hypothetical, right now there is a law in Florida where porn sites must verify the age of users. I’m sure you would be shocked to know that kids can still get to porn sites without age verification. Sites not based in the US just ignored the law.
However, you can still use parental controls to block those sites.
Would you buy your kids $150 Jordan’s or whatever the equivalent is today so they would be part of the in crowd? Say it’s okay to do drugs because if they don’t they won’t be part of the crowd?
Let me tell you a little story. Florida requires age verification for porn sites. Guess what? The internet is global. It might surprise you that since some of the biggest porn sites aren’t in the US, they just completely ignored the law.
However, parental controls still work.
Do you not have any control of what your children do?
Are you suggesting that adults should have to upload their ID to websites?
And you still didn’t answer the point about what you do about sites not hosted in the US - like the porn sites that are ignoring age verification laws in Florida.
Allowing minors access to addiction machines is like allowing them access to tobacco.
Generally, we say “fuck it” when it comes to addiction in adults. Personal choice or whatever - never mind the very definition of addiction undermines choice.
But with children, we at least try to shield them from things that they will be hooked on indefinitely. Try, I say, because we don’t do a great job. Just look at food.
I’m not in favor of child censorship type legislation because it’s almost always a poor excuse at authoritarianism and censorship. But, reframing algorithmic feeds as slot machines or cigs makes the position much more understandable.
You don’t see a problem with this?
I’m not saying there is a perfect solution. I’m saying the 1st amendment exists and you need to work within that framework. And I refuse to agree that the only choice is giving up being anonymous on the internet. It’s not even clear that KOSA could survive 1A challenges.
Regulate the issues causing the problems. Allow users to bring their own algorithms. Don’t allow algorithmic content/advetising on accounts marked as under 18. There are so many other things to try first. The issue is Big Tech owns the legislators and so we are stuck with nothing except them whims of the few powerful people at the helm of these ships.