A new experiment to protect minors from the drifts of the net, and in particular from pornography. Five European countries, including France, will test an application to check the age of online users and prevent children from accessing dangerous content, the European Commission announced on Monday, July 14.
“This device will allow users to easily prove that they are over 18 years old, which will protect children from inappropriate content”explained Henna Virkkunen, European commissioner responsible for technological issues. Very concretely, it is a European prototype that each Member State can adjust according to its own rules. The first five countries to take the plunge are Denmark, Greece, Italy, Spain and therefore France.
This proposal was particularly advanced by France, the minister in charge of digital, Clara Chappaz, defending an age verification “At European level” To access social networks. At the beginning of June, the French president Emmanuel Macron undertook to prohibit social networks under 15 in France if, “In a few months”it was not done at European level.
The European Union has one of the most strict legislative arsenal in the world to supervise digital giants. But calls to go further multiply 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, to allow for example minors to block users more easily. These measures also include the abolition of potentially addictive features such as “Cars”which indicate that a message has been read and can push an answer frantically. “It is essential to ensure that our children and young people are safe onlineand Disclalie’s place went Henna equip rocket. Platforms have no excuse for pursuing practices that endanger children. ”
Brussels is currently conducting surveys on Facebook and Instagram social networks of the American group Meta, as well as on Tiktok, as part of its new Digital Services Regulations (DSA). These platforms are suspected of 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.
