You cannot:
-Drink
until you are 21
-Vote until
you are 18
-Drive
until you are 16
-Exercise
your Constitutional rights until you are 18
Wait...WHAT?
Oh yes, in the Land
Of Lincoln, there is new
legislation on the rise. Illinois is trying to
pass a bill called the "Social Networking Website Access Restriction Act"
that prohibits anyone under 18 from having privacy on social networks. All minors would be stripped of their current
internet freedom and be reliant on their parent for a written consent form to
gain any kind of access to social networks.
Not only do they have to "get permission," but once they create an
account, their guardians have complete access to the minor's profile, account
etc. Ridiculous? Yes. I think honest Abe would say that this bill
honestly stinks!
VS. 
Though the intentions behind passing the bill are
admirable, they become somewhat of a mute point when you look at today's
communities. Illinois intends for the bill to be a
deterrent for predators online and protection for younger kids who may not be
smart about who they befriend online. I
understand that maybe a 10 or 12 year old may not be as aware of the possible
dangers in providing extensive personal information online, but this bill is an
insult to those high school kids who can legally drive but have no privacy from
their parents on the internet. Though I
think the idea of a predator registering on a social network under a false
identity is unnerving, it does, indeed, fall under our Constitutional rights to
hold these accounts without government restriction.
Some networks are more private than others. For example, Facebook requires that you have
an account to view other pages where MySpace does not. However, personal privacy varies from account
to account depending on the privacy settings chosen by the user. The measures taken to create a more secure
online environment should serve as enough if users are smart in the way they
utilize them. Implementing laws that
require all kinds of age and identification information for databases infringes
on the rights of people and does nothing for the fact that some creepy man in a
van can snatch someone anytime, anywhere.
What are you thinking Illinois?!
I’m pretty sure that Illinois wasn’t thinking at all when they came up with this bill. Internet can be an ugly place but hey look outside your window, the world is an ugly place as well and there’s not much that the state of Illinois can do in order to change that. What’s next after this bill? Prohibiting people under the age of 18 to leave their own home on weekends without holdings hands with both their parents? Maybe prohibiting the kids from going to school and force every boy or girl in the state to be home schooled?
I agree I think that it is ridiculous that Illinois is putting forth this kind of a law on social networking because either way children can still get themselves in trouble if they are not responsible to begin with. This almost reminds me of AOL parental controls. Even though parents can still control an AOL account, children can still make decisions that can endanger them by talking to people that turn out to be rapists and serial killers. If it is getting so out of hand then maybe networks such as Facebook should do something about it, like making facebook only eligble for college students!?!
I do not agree with requiring parents to have access to the online accounts of minors. Illinois could require social networking sites and/or users (Facebook, myspace.com, etc.) to enable more privacy/protective settings for minors. The intentions of this bill are in the right place, but just not reasonable. This takes away too much in regards to privacy and overall freedom. Also, Illinois can put more emphasis on educating their youth on the risks associated with social networking sites.
Illinois may succeed in passing this law, but will it actually succeed? I believe that this is an ill-attempt to keep predators away from children, but in the end gets in the way of a teenager's personal space. Honestly, from past experiece I have always known my mom to go through the computer to see if us kids were up to no good. When it comes down to it, it will be the parents and their strictness that will determine the invasion of privacy. Like my mom always said "my house, my stuff, my rules" so regardless it will, like always be up to the parents whether or not they choose to peruse through their child's "personal" web pages.
I agree that by passing this law, rights are being taken away from these teens. I understand their intention was to "keep predators away from children," but what parent is going to look through every message their child receives daily on Facebook or MySpace? The only way these parents would keep track of their child's site would be if they suspected something was going on. It's not necessary for them to require parental consent when many of these teens are already making decisions for themselves.