Spain, France, and Greece have presented a joint proposal to introduce a minimum age limit for accessing social networks in the European Union to protect minors.
The three countries presented this measure at the next meeting of telecommunications ministers on June 6 in Luxembourg.
In the document, the Spanish Minister for Digital Transformation, Oscar López, the French Minister for Artificial Intelligence and Digitalization, Clara Chappaz, and the Greek Minister for Digitalization, Dimitris Papastergiou, state that they are not proposing a specific age limit. They would like to wait and see how the debate among their European partners develops, diplomatic sources explained.
Age Verification of Users
The main objective is to establish mandatory mechanisms in the European Union that enable age verification of users. Parental control software for all internet-enabled devices on the market is also encouraged.
They also propose the introduction of European standards requiring age-appropriate designs. This is intended to help minimize addictive and manipulative elements such as pop-ups, personalized profiles, or automatic video playback.
