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The European debate on children’s access to social media networks has begun, with three EU Member States promoting the idea of a “digital majority” or the age below which it would be forbidden to connect to such platforms.
For France, Spain and Greece, the goal is to protect minors from dangerous online content.
“Today, in the terms and conditions of use of these platforms, there is already a minimum age of 13,” explains Clara Chappaz, the French Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and the Digital Economy.
However, Chappaz says: “We’ve all been children, it’s very easy to change your date of birth. And so the current system means that, on average, children are logging on and creating accounts from the age of 7-8.”
France, Spain and Greece believe that the algorithms used by social networks expose the very young to addictive content that can ultimately lead to increased anxiety or depression.
They also argue that excessive exposure may limit the development of certain skills and impair cognitive abilities.
The EU currently has legislation in place in the form of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which tackles illegal online content such as hate speech, terrorism and child pornography.
The law has been in place for almost two years for larger platforms and search engines, and just over a year for smaller organisations.
But for industry representatives in Brussels, new legislation appears premature.
“We believe that the new rules must first be properly applied. We haven’t yet seen all the effects,” says Constantin Gissler, Managing Director of Dot Europe, which represents online services and platforms in Brussels.
“I think it’s a bit hasty at this stage to be already discussing new rules and I think it’s also very important that we take more account of the reality and implications for minors of such a ban,” he adds.
Paris, Madrid and Athens are also proposing the integration of age verification and parental control systems for devices connected to the Internet.
The European Commission is currently working on an age verification application. Last month it published draft guidelines to protect minors, such as measures to verify the age of users or to set children’s accounts as private by default.
It is also conducting investigations against TikTok, Instagram and Facebook in relation to the protection of minors.
