"Protecting minors" by stripping away their rights and enforcing age gap paranoia is pure adultism. It's fucking insane.
I need to vent about the absolute state of subreddits, social media, and internet regulations right now. It has reached a level of total hysteria, and honestly, it’s fucking insane. There is no other word for it.
Every single day we see parents and online puritans panicking over the most normal shit. If a 16-year-old is dating or even just friends with a 19-year-old, people act like it’s a literal crime. I’ve seen posts of parents losing their minds because their kid is hanging out with someone two years older. I’ve seen schools banning 12-year-old boys and girls from sharing the same floor or hotel rooms on school trips because "what if they breathe the same air?".
This isn't protection. It's mass paranoia.
And the worst part? Big Tech and governments are using this fake panic to build a digital prison. They call it "protecting minors", but what they actually do is:
- Forcing facial recognition scans and biometrics just to use regular apps.
- Blocking older teens from messaging slightly younger teens, destroying normal friendships and social circles.
- Moving AI platforms and creative spaces to strict 18+ locks just because they are too lazy to moderate properly.
Let's call it what it actually is: ADULTISM.
Stop calling this ageism—ageism is usually aimed at the elderly. This is adultism in its purest, most toxic form. It’s the deep-seated belief that young people are subhuman, brainless animals who cannot think for themselves, cannot make their own medical choices, cannot work, and cannot handle any responsibility.
Instead of treating minors like human beings and allowing them to learn how to navigate the world, the system chooses to completely lobotomize their freedom and padlock the internet. They treat 16 and 17-year-olds like toddlers while expecting them to magically become fully functioning, perfect citizens the second they turn 18.
Even my own mom—who doesn't even know half the crazy shit that goes on in these internet circles—was completely horrified when I showed her what's happening. Even older generations can see that this is an unhealthy, authoritarian dystopia. Minors should have the right to work, the right to medical privacy without their parents breathing down their necks, and the right to live their lives without being tracked by facial scans at every step.
"Protection" without rights is just incarceration. I'm sick of this adultist bullshit.