Original Article by Didi Rankovic
In a shocking turn of events – NOT – Bill Gates has voiced his positive stance toward Australia’s controversial online age verification legislation.
Gates has lately been on a press tour promoting his new book, speaking about his youth, comparing that environment to the world today, and going after social media – always prefacing that with his asserted concern about young people.
In line with that, Australia’s new law banning all minors younger than 16 from having accounts on social platforms is something Gates finds to be a “fascinating” experiment, in terms of whether or not it turns out to be beneficial – while according to him, there’s a “good chance that that’s a smart thing.”
The new rules, adopted last month as part of the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024, will be fully enacted within one year, and are considered among the most restrictive of their kind anywhere in the world.
Microsoft co-founder Gates – who has lately had quite a few negative things to say about fellow billionaires at the helm of their respective tech juggernauts – spoke for the BBC this time to once again focus on the cons of allowing minors to be present online.
But is Gates “fascinated” by the ability of a government to introduce such draconian, blanket bans affecting an entire segment of the population because he is “thinking of the children” – or because the possibility itself is something that he finds of interest?
Imposing more control over the internet by governments (his activities and statements leave no question those would be, “select” governments) is something Gates supports through his foundation’s strong advocacy in favor of the proliferation of digital IDs (as part of something he, the UN, the EU, and other like-minded organizations call, “digital public infrastructure (DPI)”).
At one point in the BBC interview, Gates said that a lot of thought needs to go into how children use devices and networks online, saying this was a true particularity of them – “but also even when adults do (use social media).”
In other words, Gates seems to have now graduated to “thinking about the adults” – at least in terms of their online presence might be controlled.
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