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The European Commission, through its President Ursula von der Leyen, has announced the adoption of the “EU Kids Act”. If it comes into effect, children under 15 will no longer be able to set up their own social media accounts – a measure that will supposedly increase “safety” while navigating the turbulent online environment. The announcement was hardly unexpected. Ever since last year, following Australia’s decision to ban children under 16 from using social media platforms, the Commission president had promised to keep a close eye on its implementation and also to convene a committee of experts to recommend the most appropriate approach for replicating Australia’s innovative measure at the EU level. Which is what happened here this spring and summer.
This milestone initiative comes after several months during which a number of European countries – Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Norway, Spain, and others – have expressed their intention to legally restrict children’s access, under certain age, to major social media platforms. Most notably, Ms. von der Leyen’s announcement comes just one month after the epic failure in France, when the Constitutional Tribunal ruled that a similar law was too ambiguous and undermined basic constitutional freedoms, blocking its implementation, at least for now, despite the strong support it received from Emmanuel Macron. However, the legislative proposal titled “EU Kids Act” has been set in motion – and expected to proceed in a speedy manner.
According to this Act, young people who have turned 15 will be able to create their own accounts and use social media without restrictions, while children between the ages of 13 and 15 will need parental consent. Parents will allegedly have control over their children’s interactions, allowing them to create so-called “mini-accounts,” as well as to limit the time they spend scrolling, watching short videos, or just chatting.
The European Commission proudly claims that the law will require platforms to introduce various features that are supposed to enhance privacy, give users the ability to block unwanted interactions, even fight child addiction – including by suppressing the urge to scroll endlessly – and many other that will make social platforms an absolutely “safe” experience. In order for users to meet the fundamental age requirement, they will undergo a “technical” verification that will comply – we are assured – with “the highest standards of privacy.” Even though their identifying information will not be stored, users will have to prove their age to a third entity – a situation they will inevitably get used to, whether they like it or not. Is this a way to protect users? Or is it something that could easily set a precedent for other digital services? Not too hard to say.
The Commission President emphasized what she called the reversal of the “burden of proof,” with online social media service providers being the ones who will have to ensure that the use of their platforms is “safe.” The entire responsibility will fall on the platforms, Ms. von der Leyen stated firmly. Put another way, parents should rest easy and get on with their lives, because social media providers will be required to ensure a “safe by design” environment. Therefore children will break free from the hypnotic spell cast by screens and be saved from the clutches of the digital monster that seeks to keep them captive.
It is all about “safe” and “safety”, right? This is what the European Commission is guaranteeing through this so-called EU Kids Act. But to what extent does such regulation provide the safety it insists on? If it comes into force, will it increase the sense of “safety,” and will the dangers lurking in the online jungle simply vanish? Allow me to be skeptical. Are European bureaucrats better qualified to decide what is good and what is bad for children rather than their own parents? Allow me to be even more skeptical. If parents are thus “put back in the driving seat,” it means they are actually far from it: through excessive regulations and vague definitions that solve nothing.