The European Parliament has become the latest political body to call for limits on minors accessing social media. It called for a Europe-wide minimum age of 16 for minors to access social media platforms without their parents" consent. The fact that parents can give their consent makes the rules more lenient than those set to be introduced in Australia, where social media access for kids is outright banned.
The measure was driven by concerns over the effects of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube on children"s mental health and development. Earlier this week, Neowin reported that Meta allegedly covered up findings that deleting its social media apps improved the mental health of people in just one week.
In addition to making it harder for kids to use social media platforms, the European Parliament called for tech CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk to be held personally liable if their platforms keep violating EU provisions that are designed to protect children online. This proposal was added by a center-right politician from Hungary, Dóra Dávid MEP.
The age limit was supported in a European Parliament report on how to better protect children online. The report was adopted with 483 members voting in favor, 92 voting against, and 86 abstaining. The majority of the opposition votes and abstentions came from right-wing political groups, who said that the report infringes on EU countries" national competencies. The report was led by the Danish social democrat Christel Schaldemose.
The report wants the European Commission to make sure that laws and measures on age checks are consistent throughout the European Union. The report could influence upcoming EU legislation, including the review of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive and a new Digital Fairness Act.
As more jurisdictions bring in social media bans for children, we could see them catch on in other areas, too. Given Meta"s research that allegedly shows people"s mental health improves when quitting social media, these bans could actually be good for kids.
Source: Politico