[View the story "Erasing Online History" on Storify ]Erasing Online History Storified by AJAMStream · Mon, Dec 02 2013 13:56:03
As word of the California legislation, Senate Bill 568, spread, opinions poured in. The bill, the first in the nation, has sparked online debate.
#cleanslate law seems really great! It gives you an "eraser button" for all minors to appeal to FB & Twitter to perm erase all their posts.Annette
California Eraser law: teaching kids across the state that actions have no consequences and responsibility doesn't mattergoldenrail
I don't agree with this, kids posting things is sometimes how parents find out there is a problem and to allow them to post suicidal notes and then get to delete them just makes it so we don't know how they feel, a lot of us know how some teens don't make their feelings know to parents.Karl Chase
According to California State Senator Darrell Steinberg (D), giving minors the ability to delete posts that could be harmful for their futures served as the
impetus for this legislation. As social media continues to permeate society, profiles are increasingly used as
character assessments .
nearly 91% of hiring managers screen job applications social profiles before hiring #cybersafe #socialmedia #hiringJessica Merrell
A quick search online shows that teenagers are already aware of the pitfalls of social media posts.
@WajahatAli @AJAMStream we were just discussing this in school today and 20/23 in the class agreed that they felt scared by social mediaMehr
@AttackDatQB I gotta watch what I tweet central expelled someone for tweeting some stuff lol plus colleges look at your twitterAJ Badesha✨
idk my mind would prob explode if I didn't tweet half of my thoughts like I do. Either that or I'd be expelled from school.Evan Carroll
Some do not think the law should be restricted to people under 18.
@AJAMStream Completely unfair. Everybody should be able to do that, not just minors. Or at least adults that wants to erase their minor pastAkemi Mokoto
Watching program on CNN about California trying to pass law that under 18's can erase past social media faux pa's. What about the under 55'sStephen Webster
Others ask whether anything can ever be truly deleted from the internet.
right, so what if the servers are in, say.. Sweden? wishful thinking.Walter Moorhouse
Spam in general. It can be erased on social media, but everything remains on Google and similar sites. That can't be erased!! Just don't do wrong in the first place, I'd say!Paul Eichlin
One user believes that government should not exert its influence over the internet.
@AJAMStream They shouldn't, it would clearly lead to censorship. The govt needs to allow online community to regulate itself. #socialmediaAimee Monahan
On the heels of this "eraser" law's success, Senator Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) has reintroduced his "
Do Not Track Kids " Act, which would provide federal protections to minors online. Other states, like Utah, are
looking at passing similar bills.
A major proponent of these laws,
Common Sense Media's founder Jim Steyer, addressed similar criticism in a blog post:
Thanks for your insightful comment. You are right that this law cannot ensure that a user's deleted content will be scrubbed from the company's server. That said, it's as good as gone, since the information cannot pop back up into public view or be used by the company in any way.commonsensemedia.org
Laws like this also place limits on advertisers, who will be restricted in what they can market to minors when they go into effect.
the law lays out exactly what ads minors shouldn’t be exposed to: alcoholic beverages, firearms, spray paint, tobacco products, tanning services, dietary supplements, and permanent tattoos. Ironically, these are all the same things that minors are getting involved in that they will want to have deleted from their social presence in the future.copypress.com
Some do not completely agree with the provision on advertising:
I think they shouldnt have it both ways. Either get the eraser button and be allowed to be marketed alcohol and guns. Or vice versa but not both.Erik Carlton
As 2015 draws near, many have their sights set on the implementation of SB-586.
@LRauchwarter @betabeat It will be interesting to see how it'll play out come 2015.Exponent PR
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