We at Twenty-One Debunked have already discussed why we oppose such a ban: it is overbroad, throws the proverbial baby out with the bathwater, the mandatory age verification would create a privacy and cybersecurity nightmare for all ages, violates free speech, and last but not least, blatantly violates youth rights. And on balance, we believe it does far more harm than good.
Yes, we are well aware that social media does have a dark side, for all ages, and that it needs much better guardrails. But this age ban is both over- and under-inclusive, and thus utterly fails to accomplish the stated objectives. Rather, we believe that (as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) advocates), comprehensive data privacy legislation for all ages, that would ban the practice of surveillance advertising, would be a far better idea to do before anything else. Then improve the safety features of these platforms, and if we still want something more age-specific, perhaps have something like New York's SAFE For Kids Act and the New York Child Data Protection Act. In fact, New York even has a bill that has yet to become law, the SAFE For All Act, which would go a LONG way to making these platforms much safer and less addictive for all ages, and we fully support that 100%.
But an Australian-style age ban? HELL NO! The same also goes for the creeping censorship of the UK currently (and soon eventually Australia as well, with the way things are going now).
And Big Tech can go EFF off!
(Mic drop)