Report from AP News
In Brief – A Brazilian law enacted last September to shield minors from harmful online content has taken effect with experts calling it a milestone in the protection of children and adolescents. The Digital Statute of Children and Adolescents does not ban minors under 16 from social media platforms but instead requires them to link their social media accounts to a legal guardian to ensure supervision. Digital services are required to implement effective age and identity verification systems that go beyond simple self-declarations, including using government ID documents. The legislation also prohibits platforms from using so-called “addictive” features such as infinite scrolls. Momentum for the law grew last year after a viral video from a Brazilian comedian and influencer exposing the sexualization of children online drew tens of millions of views. Platforms have been rolling out compliance features, including WhatsApp letting guardians control minors’ contacts and groups, Google planning to use AI to identify minors and block content, and YouTube requiring parental supervision for users under 16 to maintain a channel.
Context – One of the unwritten rules of global digital regulation is that giant platforms will implement national rules in countries with big, important domestic markets. Brazil fits that bill and so it can impose a highly regulatory platform law that takes its place beside the EU’s Digital Services Act and the UK Online Safety Act. Regulators in each jurisdiction will henceforth be creating and enforcing rules for how platforms operate and handle the speech of their many millions of users. Another big trend is growing interest in simple Australia-style social media age thresholds, a model gaining traction in big markets like France, Spain, the UK, Indonesia, and Malaysia as well as smaller markets like Ecuador and Egypt. In the US, with its First Amendment bulwark, major mandates are less likely to be imposed by legislators and regulators and more likely to come from civil lawsuit losses and subsequent settlements. Across the board, online identity and age verification is growing despite arguments against it by many privacy and civil liberties advocates.