Paul Bernal's Blog

As the idea of banning kids from social media is spreading round the globe – the new ban of under-16s from social media in Australia comes into action in a week or so – it is worth looking at the topic more deeply.

Since Keir Starmer announced the forthcoming introduction of mandatory ‘Digital ID’, the so-called ‘Brit Card’, there has been a lot of discussion and debate – some of it political, some technical or technological, some on civil liberties, some practical –

Governments are very bad at internet regulation.

Pretty much the moment Keir Starmer became Prime Minister, his esteemed predecessor Tony Blair wheeled out, yet again, a call for Digital ID.

There are many reasons to be concerned about the #OnlineSafetyBill, the latest manifestation of which has just been launched, to a mixture of fanfares and fury.

The latest manifestation of the much heralded Online Safety Bill is due to make its appearance tomorrow.

The new government anti-encryption campaign, ‘No Place to Hide’, has a great many problems.

You might be forgiven for thinking that this government is very keen on privacy.

Magical thinking It’s all too easy to see a difficult, societal problem and try to solve it with a technological ‘magic wand’.

In recent weeks, two of the oldest issues on the internet have reared their ugly heads again: the demand that people use their ‘real names’ on social media, and the suggestion that we should undermine or ban the use of encryption – in particular end-to-end