UK House of Lords Backs Under-16 Social Media Ban, Fueling Fears of Digital ID and Lost Anonymity

So here we are again, trying to fix society with a big red button marked BAN IT, which, naturally, does absolutely nothing except make politicians feel as if they’ve done something useful.

This time, the target is children using social media, because if there’s one thing that unites the British political class, it’s the belief that they, and only they, can raise your children better than you can.

The House of Lords, a place where hereditary titles and vague indignation go to drink tea, has decided to throw its collective wig behind an Australian-style ban on under-16s using social media.

And before you ask, yes, Australia, the same country that once tried to censor the entire internet with a blacklist that would have made a North Korean censor blush.

Actor Hugh Grant — yes, the same floppy-haired romantic from your mother’s favorite movie — has been trotted out in support, because nothing says “complex digital policy” quite like a man whose greatest brush with technology was probably a Nokia 3210.