Report from Euronews
In Brief – The European Commission has released their guidelines on the protection of minors under the EU Digital Services Act, landmark legislation enacted in 2022 directing digital platforms to reduce access to objectionable content online. The new guidelines provide online platforms with further guidance on how to protect minors by addressing issues such as addictive design, cyber bullying, harmful content, privacy and security. Recommendations include setting minors’ accounts to private by default, disabling features that contribute to excessive use such as various kinds of notifications and tallying of streaks, and prohibiting accounts from downloading or taking screenshots of content posted by minors. Article 28 of the DSA directs platforms to “put in place appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety, and security of minors, on their service”, and last year the Commission opened DSA investigations of Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms, and TikTok that included preliminary concerns that they failed to comply with Article 28, as well as questioning the platforms’ age-assurance and verification methods. Those investigations are ongoing.
Context – Yes, the Commission’s guidance for digital platforms to protect minors came out a year after DSA investigations of top social media platforms on the issue began. But we’re focused on age verification here. The Commission simultaneously announced a pilot project involving Denmark, France, Greece, Italy and Spain who will roll out a prototype online age verification app that the Commission claims will protect the privacy of users. The Commission hopes to integrate age verification functionalities into the EU Digital Identity (eID) Wallet planned for next year. Online age verification mandates and technologies are moving forward in numerous jurisdictions, including France, UK, US, and Australia. While porn sites are generally the first targets, social media soon follows. In Australia, where imposing a 16-year-old age limit on social media was the initial focus, search engines will be required to age check as well in December.