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Show HN: Runtime Fence – Kill switch for AI agents

https://github.com/RunTimeAdmin/ai-agent-killswitch
1•ccie14019•2m ago•1 comments

Researchers surprised by the brain benefits of cannabis usage in adults over 40

https://nypost.com/2026/02/07/health/cannabis-may-benefit-aging-brains-study-finds/
1•SirLJ•4m ago•0 comments

Peter Thiel warns the Antichrist, apocalypse linked to the 'end of modernity'

https://fortune.com/2026/02/04/peter-thiel-antichrist-greta-thunberg-end-of-modernity-billionaires/
1•randycupertino•4m ago•1 comments

USS Preble Used Helios Laser to Zap Four Drones in Expanding Testing

https://www.twz.com/sea/uss-preble-used-helios-laser-to-zap-four-drones-in-expanding-testing
2•breve•10m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Animated beach scene, made with CSS

https://ahmed-machine.github.io/beach-scene/
1•ahmedoo•11m ago•0 comments

An update on unredacting select Epstein files – DBC12.pdf liberated

https://neosmart.net/blog/efta00400459-has-been-cracked-dbc12-pdf-liberated/
1•ks2048•11m ago•0 comments

Was going to share my work

1•hiddenarchitect•14m ago•0 comments

Pitchfork: A devilishly good process manager for developers

https://pitchfork.jdx.dev/
1•ahamez•14m ago•0 comments

You Are Here

https://brooker.co.za/blog/2026/02/07/you-are-here.html
3•mltvc•18m ago•0 comments

Why social apps need to become proactive, not reactive

https://www.heyflare.app/blog/from-reactive-to-proactive-how-ai-agents-will-reshape-social-apps
1•JoanMDuarte•19m ago•1 comments

How patient are AI scrapers, anyway? – Random Thoughts

https://lars.ingebrigtsen.no/2026/02/07/how-patient-are-ai-scrapers-anyway/
1•samtrack2019•20m ago•0 comments

Vouch: A contributor trust management system

https://github.com/mitchellh/vouch
2•SchwKatze•20m ago•0 comments

I built a terminal monitoring app and custom firmware for a clock with Claude

https://duggan.ie/posts/i-built-a-terminal-monitoring-app-and-custom-firmware-for-a-desktop-clock...
1•duggan•21m ago•0 comments

Tiny C Compiler

https://bellard.org/tcc/
1•guerrilla•22m ago•0 comments

Y Combinator Founder Organizes 'March for Billionaires'

https://mlq.ai/news/ai-startup-founder-organizes-march-for-billionaires-protest-against-californi...
1•hidden80•22m ago•2 comments

Ask HN: Need feedback on the idea I'm working on

1•Yogender78•23m ago•0 comments

OpenClaw Addresses Security Risks

https://thebiggish.com/news/openclaw-s-security-flaws-expose-enterprise-risk-22-of-deployments-un...
2•vedantnair•23m ago•0 comments

Apple finalizes Gemini / Siri deal

https://www.engadget.com/ai/apple-reportedly-plans-to-reveal-its-gemini-powered-siri-in-february-...
1•vedantnair•24m ago•0 comments

Italy Railways Sabotaged

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czr4rx04xjpo
4•vedantnair•24m ago•0 comments

Emacs-tramp-RPC: high-performance TRAMP back end using MsgPack-RPC

https://github.com/ArthurHeymans/emacs-tramp-rpc
1•fanf2•26m ago•0 comments

Nintendo Wii Themed Portfolio

https://akiraux.vercel.app/
2•s4074433•30m ago•2 comments

"There must be something like the opposite of suicide "

https://post.substack.com/p/there-must-be-something-like-the
1•rbanffy•32m ago•0 comments

Ask HN: Why doesn't Netflix add a “Theater Mode” that recreates the worst parts?

2•amichail•33m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Engineering Perception with Combinatorial Memetics

1•alan_sass•39m ago•2 comments

Show HN: Steam Daily – A Wordle-like daily puzzle game for Steam fans

https://steamdaily.xyz
1•itshellboy•41m ago•0 comments

The Anthropic Hive Mind

https://steve-yegge.medium.com/the-anthropic-hive-mind-d01f768f3d7b
1•spenvo•41m ago•0 comments

Just Started Using AmpCode

https://intelligenttools.co/blog/ampcode-multi-agent-production
1•BojanTomic•43m ago•0 comments

LLM as an Engineer vs. a Founder?

1•dm03514•43m ago•0 comments

Crosstalk inside cells helps pathogens evade drugs, study finds

https://phys.org/news/2026-01-crosstalk-cells-pathogens-evade-drugs.html
2•PaulHoule•44m ago•0 comments

Show HN: Design system generator (mood to CSS in <1 second)

https://huesly.app
1•egeuysall•44m ago•1 comments
Open in hackernews

Banning social media is the wrong conversation

https://substack.com/inbox/post/182273404
5•_phnd_•1mo ago

Comments

_phnd_•1mo ago
This piece started from a simple observation: every generation has the same panic about new media, but we never ask why the panic is so predictable. The Australia ban is just the latest iteration. Before TikTok it was video games, before that MTV, before that TV. We keep regulating the technology without examining the incentive structure underneath. What interested me was the recursive problem—the very capacities you'd need to see this pattern (sustained attention, ability to connect dots over time) are what get degraded by the pattern itself. I'm not arguing for or against the ban. I'm arguing we're having the wrong conversation. And that might not be an accident. Curious what patterns others are seeing that I missed.
austin-cheney•1mo ago
You are assuming the Australian ban is unfounded or the result of panic. Why is that?
baubino•1mo ago
This article is asking interesting questions but the proposed answers don’t seem to be based on either research or personal knowledge of the media that are being compared. I remember vividly the conversations about TV consumption that was happening in the 80s and it really was an entirely different conversation than the one now about social media. While many parents may have worried about their kids watching too much TV, the hysteria about MTV really only came from the far right fringe. MTV was only on cable and most people did not have cable. It just wasn’t seen as this grave threat because most kids just didn’t have access to it. Even when Tipper Gore managed to work up a frenzy over NWA, rap was only just starting to get mainstream and her explicit warning labels probably did more to promote their record than anything. Video games in the 80s were expensive and had to be purchased. Media consumption had barriers to access. Anyone who wanted to control their media could. TV time could be easily regulated, especially because many (most?) households only had one television.

The widespread and constant accessibility of social media today isn’t merely a sidenote to a larger argument; it is the main issue, which makes it a fundamentally different concern than the ones expressed about TV and MTV in the 80s. Social media is ubiquitous and it is accessible outside of the home, which makes it very difficult for parents to regulate their kids’ use of it. Even if your own kid doesn’t have a phone, chances are their friends do.

The social media ban raises very concerning questions about government intervention, no doubt. But I do think the problem social media presents is a novel one; it’s not a rehashing of the 80s conversation.