Pressure is growing in the EU to create a digital coming of age.
France, Greece, and Spain advocate for increased protection for teens from apps like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
BrusselsThe European Union is increasingly regulating the use of social networks, especially due to the effects it can have on children and adolescents. In recent years, the EU has approved various initiatives to protect minors from the abusive use of mobile phones and, among other things, to increase the privacy and data protection of European citizens under the age of 18. However, now a group of Member States wants to go a step further and asks the European Commission and other European partners to limit access to social media to those under 16.
The current geopolitical context regarding social media is key. In this regard, a source from the European Commission points out, in a conversation with this newspaper, that they are particularly wary of TikTok, since it transfers all the information it collects to the Chinese regime's intelligence services. However, there is also concern about the potential benefits that the large US technology companies that control Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter could reap. In fact, many of the owners of these companies have explicitly supported Donald Trump and increasingly aligned themselves with the far right, to the point of being accused of interfering in democratic electoral processes.
Thus, some European partners are urging the EU as a whole to increase regulation of social media, especially for minors. Specifically, as can be read in a letter to which ARA has had access, France, Greece, and Spain are urging Brussels to promote EU regulations that, among other things, require all electronic devices marketed in the EU that can connect to the internet—and, therefore, have access to social media—to have these regulations.
In addition, they also call for the "introduction of a digital majority in the EU" for accessing social media. However, they do not clarify what age would allow internet browsing without any mandatory parental controls. In any case, French President Emmanuel Macron, one of the European leaders pushing hardest for this type of measure, points out that it should be introduced at least at age 15. "We must regain control of the lives of our children and adolescents, and impose a digital majority at the age of 15, but no younger," said the French leader in his first attempt, in April of last year, to get the EU to approve this regulation.
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On the other hand, the letter from these member states, which is now being studied by the European Commission, also proposes "adapting the designs of social networks to minors" and minimizing the strategies that these companies use to "create addiction", such asscroll infinity or the fact that the videos are linked one after the other automatically, which is known as autoplay.
This debate has taken off after Australia passed a pioneering law late last year banning children under 16 from using social media. It will come into force this year and includes fines of nearly €30 billion if large tech companies fail to implement it. Although messaging apps like WhatsApp are expected to be exempt, the Australian government has already announced that it would affect Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Snapchat.
The debate goes beyond age.
But the open discussion within the EU about the use of social media goes beyond the minimum age at which they should be used. Diana Riba (ERC) MEP notes that there is growing debate about limiting their use, and not just the age at which they should be permitted. "A comprehensive solution is needed, and, for example, addressing the issue of algorithms. We have no control over what we see," says the vice-president and only Catalan MEP of the European Parliament's Culture and Education Committee (which has responsibilities in this field, especially regarding the protection of minors). In this regard, the Republican recalls in a conversation with ARA that during the last European legislature, the EU already approved some regulations to make social media "safer," such as the Digital Services Act, and predicts that there will continue to be a "great debate" within the European institutions about how to address the use of social media and how to regulate them.
In fact, the member states' requests in the letter they sent to the European Commission also go beyond the minimum age, calling for measures to encourage "critical thinking among minors and their parents to prevent the negative effects of current disinformation." "We must ensure that the digital world continues to provide valuable opportunities for creative expression and does not become a threat to the health and well-being of our minors," the letter concludes.
