We age gate other things that are genuinely useful but can be harmful when used incorrectly or with malice.
Given how much trouble you can cause with an Internet connection, I’m surprised this hasn’t happened already.
Given how much trouble you can cause with an Internet connection, I’m surprised this hasn’t happened already.
We can easily prove those have harms.
> trouble you can cause with an Internet connection
Why don't we age gate hands? Number one source of human problems right there. Perhaps we should outfit our children like Harrison Bergeron until they reach the age of majority?
Making this sort of reductio ad absurdum doesn't make you seem witty or clever. It just makes you seem pedantic and unable to reason about things like a functioning adult.
Really?
Do I really need to waste my time explaining why age-gating the internet is not feasible, realistic, or even worth considering?
Really?
The idea of age-gating hands is to demonstrate that overly broad age gating IS ridiculous and the lack of sufficient targetting by Texas is precisely why the judge is throwing it out.
Please try to engage with commenters with a little bit more respect and hopefully better understanding.
Just like the liquor store, verification happens at point of sale. Past that, all bets are off.
If I got buy a beer, verify my age, and then go home and give it to a kid, there's nothing anyone can reasonably be expected to do about that. Similarly, if I buy internet access, and then turn around and just give it to my kid, there's nothing anyone can reasonably be expected to do about that.
We don't expect the store clerk to follow you home and watch you drink the beer.
Speaking can do a lot of harm, from emotional distress to swindling a victim out of millions through a scam.
World's safest place is a solitary confinement cell. It comes with some downsides though.
It is! Have you met a baby before... no teeth, severely diminished strength and muscle control
My son got his first library card at 5 and walked over there by himself when he was 6 or 7.
Middle school is way too late to build good reading habits. What a shame.
Seriously, I won't limit the maximum age, but would rather use a cognitive ability assessment. It in fact already exists, e.g. as the TV debates for presidential candidates. Were the voters paying attention,..