For years, politicians from across the political spectrum insisted the Online Safety Act would focus solely on illegal content without threatening free expression. But from the moment its age-verification duties took effect on 25 July, that reassurance began to unravel.
The concerns really have nothing to do with intellect. It’s more about how manipulative social media and the internet at large is. Many adults who watched it come about are still vulnerable to it. The developing mind is an important thing and change or damage during that period changes a person drastically