Tech regulation (1)：Tech v teens

Australia plans to ban social media for under-16s. Can it?

【1】“We’ve got your back,” Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, told parents on November 29th, a day after pushing through some of the world’s strictest limits on screentime. One year from now, under-16s will be banned from using social media, in a move intended to protect them from harm. Teenagers groaned. Parents discreetly high-fived. Policymakers around the world took notes.

【2】Most social-media platforms are notionally off-limits for under-13s, a cut-off that was widely adopted after America passed COPPA, a law to protect children’s online privacy, in 1998. But the rules are widely ignored and feebly enforced. Britain’s communications regulator, Ofcom, reports that 22% of the country’s social-media users aged between eight and 17 have an account with an adult’s date of birth. TikTok (minimum age: 13) is used by half of British eight- to 11-year-olds.

【3】Parents and politicians long turned a blind eye. But amid concern that social media harms mental health, governments are getting tougher. European countries including France, Germany and Italy require younger teens to get parents’ permission before signing up. Various American states have passed laws limiting teens’ access to social media, though many have hit legal obstacles. Australia, cheered on by its domestic press, is the first country to enact a blanket ban.

【4】The first problem it must solve is enforcement. Younger teenagers lack the driving licences and credit cards that often serve as proof of age, so many companies use machine learning to estimate age via selfie. Five years ago such models were accurate to within about three years, says Tony Allen of the Age Check Certification Scheme, an auditor that is working with the Australian government. Today they can guess to within about a year, he says, better than most humans.

【5】That still means errors at the margin, especially for people with dark skin, who tend to be underrepresented in training data. Yoti, which checks ages for Meta on products including Facebook Dating, reports an average error of about a year for light-skinned 13- to 17-year-olds, and a year and a half for dark-skinned teens.

【6】Technical challenges aside, how broad should crackdowns on social media be? The category spans everything from video to messaging. Australia has suggested that TikTok will fall under its ban but that YouTube will be exempt, for its “significant” educational content. Video games are also off the hook, though they have become increasingly social as children use platforms like Roblox to chat as well as play.

【7】Another question is who should carry out the checks. Australia is placing the burden on the social-media platforms: “You create the risk, you’ve got to deal with it,” says Mr Allen. Meta and others say the checks should instead be done by operating systems or app stores, making it Apple’s and Google’s problem. That would allow users to have their phone vouch for their age anonymously, rather than hand over mugshots or IDs to every social network, gambling app or parn site they visit. For now, governments seem wary of making Apple and Google create global ID registries of their billions of users.

【8】Age limits will hit some social platforms harder than others. The cost of performing checks will be more burdensome for startups than incumbents (Yoti quotes between three and 31 cents per check, depending on volume). And whereas only about 5% of Facebook’s users in America are under 18, at Snapchat the figure is 19% (see chart). Young users at least are not especially valuable to advertisers: ads aimed at under-16s probably make up a “low single-digit percentage” of spending, estimates Brian Wieser of Madison and Wall, an ad consultancy. Meta has not shown advertisements to under-18s in the EU for more than a year, amid a legal dispute; its bottom line has hardly been dented.

【9】No one yet knows the extent to which keeping teens off social media will reduce their interest as adults. But apps like TikTok, which is already threatened with an outright ban in America, could be disadvantaged if they are banned for teenagers while direct rivals such as YouTube are let off. The big winners from a social-media crackdown may be alternative types of screentime, such as gaming —at least so long as the enthusiasm for banning children’s online pursuits goes no further.

①短语

1. 原文：One year from now, under-16s will be banned from using social media, in a move intended to protect them from harm.

词典：be banned from 被禁止做某事

例句：Students are banned from using mobile phones during class.

学生在上课期间被禁止使用手机。

2. 原文：Parents and politicians long turned a blind eye.

词典：turn a blind eye 对…… 视而不见

例句：Some people turn a blind eye to the environmental pollution around them.

有些人对周围的环境污染视而不见。

3. 原文：European countries including France, Germany and Italy require younger teens to get parents’ permission before signing up.

词典：sign up 注册；报名

例句：I want to sign up for the painting class.

我想报名参加绘画班。

4. 原文：Various American states have passed laws limiting teens’ access to social media, though many have hit legal obstacles.

词典：access to 接近；有权使用

例句：Everyone should have equal access to education.

每个人都应该有平等接受教育的权利。

5. 原文：Australia, cheered on by its domestic press, is the first country to enact a blanket ban.

词典：be cheered on 受到欢呼；受到鼓励

例句：The athlete was cheered on by the audience.

运动员受到观众的欢呼鼓励。

6. 原文：Video games are also off the hook, though they have become increasingly social as children use platforms like Roblox to chat as well as play.

词典：off the hook 摆脱困境；脱身；免于受罚

例句：He thought he was off the hook because the police didn't find any evidence.

他以为自己摆脱困境了，因为警察没有找到任何证据。

7. 原文：That would allow users to have their phone vouch for their age anonymously, rather than hand over mugshots or IDs to every social network, gambling app or parn site they visit.

词典：vouch for 为…… 担保；证明

例句：I can vouch for his honesty.

我可以为他的诚实作担保。

8. 原文：For now, governments seem wary of making Apple and Google create global ID registries of their billions of 用户.

词典：seem wary of 似乎对…… 谨慎

例句：The company seems wary of investing in new projects.

公司似乎对投资新项目很谨慎。

②长难句

原文：Most social-media platforms are notionally off-limits for under-13s, a cut-off that was widely adopted after America passed COPPA, a law to protect children’s online privacy, in 1998.

分析：此句的主语是 “Most social-media platforms”，系动词是 “are”，“notionally off-limits for under-13s” 是表语；同位语“a cut-off”进一步解释这是一个限制标准，其中 “that was widely adopted...” 是定语从句，修饰先行词 “cut-off”，“after America passed COPPA...” 是时间状语从句，“a law to protect children’s online privacy” 是 “COPPA” 的同位语，解释说明该法律的作用。

译文：大多数社交媒体平台理论上都禁止13岁以下青少年使用，这一限令自1998年美国颁布《儿童在线隐私保护法》（COPPA）后便得到了广泛遵循，该法令用来保护儿童的在线隐私。

原文：But apps like TikTok, which is already threatened with an outright ban in America, could be disadvantaged if they are banned for teenagers while direct rivals such as YouTube are let off.

分析：句子的主语是 “apps like TikTok”，“which is already threatened with an outright ban in America”是定语从句，修饰“TikTok”；谓语是“could be disadvantaged”；“if they are banned for teenagers while direct rivals such as YouTube are let off” 是条件状语从句，其中 “while” 连接两个并列的情况对比，“they” 指代 “apps like TikTok”，“direct rivals such as YouTube” 是对比对象。

译文：以TikTok为例，这款应用如今正面临美国全面封禁的危机。一旦禁止青少年使用TikTok，而它的直接竞争对手YouTube却未受限制，那么TikTok极有可能陷入不利境地。

③写作技巧

Video games are also off the hook, though they have become increasingly social as children use platforms like Roblox to chat as well as play.

即便孩子们使用罗布乐思（Roblox）等平台边玩边聊天，电子游戏的社交属性也越来越强，但电子游戏也不在禁令范围内。

“off the hook” 意思是 “摆脱困境；脱身；免于受罚”，该短语以一种形象生动的方式表明某物或某人避开了原本可能面临的限制、麻烦或责任，使句子简洁且表意明确，让读者能快速领会所描述对象所处的 “豁免” 状态，增强语言表现力。

英文中有一些类似替换表达，例如：get away with、be exempt from、escape liability 等。

例句：

He thought he could get away with being late again, but the teacher noticed.

他以为自己再次迟到能逃过惩罚，但老师注意到了。

This charity organization is exempt from tax.

这个慈善组织免税。

The company managed to escape liability for the accident.

公司设法逃脱了对这起事故的责任。

④背景知识

年龄验证技术（Age Verification Technology）：在互联网应用场景中，用于确认用户年龄的一类技术手段。随着网络服务对不同年龄层准入限制的需求增加，其发展越发受重视。常见的有通过机器学习分析用户自拍来估算年龄，不过这种方式存在一定误差，尤其对于深肤色人群，因训练数据占比等因素，误差可能更大。除此外，还有借助证件信息、第三方权威认证等多种方式结合的综合验证体系，旨在更精准地把控用户年龄界限，保障网络服务符合相应年龄规范。

社交媒体平台分类监管机制（Classification and Supervision Mechanism for Social Media Platforms）：各国基于社交媒体平台的内容属性、功能特点、受众群体等多方面因素，实施差异化监管的一种机制。例如，依据平台主要传播内容是偏娱乐还是教育等性质进行区分，像澳大利亚考虑到YouTube有 “显著” 教育内容就拟将其排除在针对青少年的禁令之外；也会根据平台用户年龄分布及对青少年影响力情况来制定不同监管规则，以此来平衡保障青少年健康成长与促进社交媒体行业合理发展之间的关系。

⑤段落大意

【1】新政出台：新规拟禁16岁以下青年用社交媒体，引发各方反应。

【2】监管困境：多数社媒名义禁止，实则规定常被无视，执行乏力。

【3】政策趋严：为保护青少年心理健康，多国政府采取更为强硬的措施。

【4】执法难题：禁令执行年龄核查难，存在误差。

【5】肤色误差：年龄验证技术对深肤色人群存在更大误差情况。

【6】界定范围：澳大利亚需明确社交媒体禁令范围，避免误伤。

【7】责任争议：澳政府、社交媒体平台对于责任争议各执一词。

【8】平台影响：基于年龄限制的社媒禁令对不同社交媒体平台影响不同。

【9】局势影响：禁令带来的影响不确定，TikTok极有可能陷入不利境地。