It’s published
The European debate about children’s access to social media networks has begun, promoting the idea of an age where three EU countries are prohibited from connecting to “digital majority” or such platforms.
for France, Spain and Greece’s goal is to protect minors from dangerous online content.
“Today, under these platforms, there is already a minimum age of 13 years old,” explains Clara Chappaz, representative of the artificial intelligence and digital economy.
However, Chapappaz said: “We were all children. Changing the date of birth is very easy. So the current system means, on average, that’s how children are recording and creating accounts from the age of 7-8.”
France, Spain and Greece believe that the algorithms used in social networks expose very young people to addictive content that could ultimately lead to increased anxiety and depression.
They also argue that excessive exposure can limit the development of certain skills and impair cognitive abilities.
The EU is currently in place in the form of the Digital Services Act (DSA) that tackles illegal online content such as hate speech, terrorism, and child pornography.
The law has been in place for almost two years on large platforms and search engines, and for more than a year on small organizations.
But for industry representatives in Brussels, the new law appears premature.
“We believe that we must apply the new rules appropriately. We haven’t seen all the effects yet,” said Constantin Gissler, managing director of DOT Europe, representing Brussels’ online services and platforms.
“I think we’re already in a hurry to discuss the new rules at this stage, and I think it’s also very important to explain more about the reality and meaning of minors of such prohibitions,” he adds.
Paris, Madrid and Athens also propose age verification of internet-connected devices and integration of parental control systems.
The European Commission is currently Age verification application. Last month we published draft guidelines to protect minors, including verifying users’ age and taking steps to set children’s accounts private by default.
I also conduct investigation to Tiktok, Instagram and Facebook regarding protection of minors.
