Five European countries, including France, will test an application to verify the age of users online and prevent children from accessing dangerous content, the European Commission announced on Monday.
“This system will allow users to easily prove that they are over 18, which will protect children from inappropriate content,” explained Henna Virkkunen, European Commissioner for Technology Affairs. Very concretely, it is a European prototype that each Member State will be able to adjust according to its own rules: for example depending on whether a ban is in force on the internet for children aged 12, 13 or 15, etc. The first five countries to take the plunge are France, Denmark, Greece, Italy and Spain.
The European Union at the forefront
This proposal was particularly pushed by France, with the Minister responsible for Digital Affairs, Clara Chappaz, defending age verification “at European level” for access to social networks. “Thanks to these guidelines, banning social media before the age of 15 becomes possible. This is a decisive and awaited step to protect our children,” reacted Ms. Chappaz in a press release. “It’s a victory for the protection of our children (…) France will be there!” added Emmanuel Macron on the X network.
At the beginning of June, the French president committed to moving in the direction of such a ban, if, “within a few months”, this was not done at the European level. The European Union has one of the strictest legislative arsenals in the world to regulate digital giants. But calls to go further are increasing among the Twenty-Seven, while studies demonstrate the negative effects of social networks on the mental and physical health of young people.
On Monday, the European Commission also published recommendations for social networks for young people, for example to make it easier for minors to block users. These measures also include removing potentially addictive features like “checkmarks,” which indicate that a message has been read and can lead to frantic waiting for a response.
Insufficient protection of children
For its part, Arcom, the French digital policeman, welcomed measures which take up its recommendations “on many points” and praised “the unequivocal affirmation of the obligation made to platforms intended for adults (including pornographic sites) to effectively verify the age of their users” throughout the EU.
Brussels is currently carrying out investigations into the social networks Facebook and Instagram, owned by the American group Meta, as well as TikTok, as part of its new Digital Services Regulation (DSA). These platforms are criticized for not sufficiently protecting children from harmful content.
At the end of May, the Commission also opened an investigation into four pornographic sites (Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos) suspected of not preventing children’s access to adult content.
