The response from Brussels? It’s your call, Mr. President.
“Let’s be clear … [a] wide social media ban is not what the European Commission is doing. It’s not where we are heading to. Why? Because this is the prerogative of our member states,” Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters Wednesday.
EU countries can set a digital age of majority under the EU’s landmark privacy regulation, the General Data Protection Regulation, said Regnier. “Of course, member states can go for that option,” Regnier said.
Under the GDPR, EU countries can set the minimum users age for platforms to process their data, provided it is over 13. But data can still be processed if parents give their consent, the law says.
Adding to France’s woes is that, without a technical way to man the gates, these measures have proven ineffective. In Denmark, almost half of kids under 10 have social media accounts and almost all have signed up for social media by the age of 13, the country’s Digital Minister Caroline Stage Olsen said last week.
However, requirements on social media platforms to protect minors are also covered by the Digital Services Act, a regulation that centralizes supervisory powers for major platforms at the hands of the Commission.
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