Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, explained during a press point that a regulation dedicated to the use of social media by minors is needed: “We must evaluate gradual and staggered access for different age groups”.
In the end he was alone matter of time. In recent years several governments have begun to move towards one regulation dedicated to social media. Australia started, he talked about it United Kingdomthere was an attempt by Spain and in Italy there are some legislative proposals. It was inevitable that Europe would also move, especially after the publication of the first results of the European Commission’s investigation which explains that social networks are built to create addiction in their users. And so in a press point in Brussels the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen he made it clear that one is needed European regulation to regulate minors’ access to platforms.
The directions of von der Leyen are quite clear: “We must evaluate gradual and staggered access for the different age groups. Then for children under 13, access to social media only under the supervision of parents, guardians, teachers and for a limited time. From 13 years onwards there is gradual access, depending on the evidence provided by the platforms that they are age appropriate. And the same goes for teenagers”. And according to von der Leyen when we talk about harmful platforms we are mainly talking about social media: “We must first consider the type of platforms that are harmful to our children. The evidence shows that it is mainly social media platforms.”
The terrain ofaccess to social networks it is becoming a battleground between governments and Big Tech. As new regulations hover, Big Tech continues to announce new functions dedicated to minors. From stricter lockdowns to maintain the minimum age of access to 13 years oldto the settings dedicated to security, passing through the parental controls. A campaign which, however, does not seem to be very successful, at least in Europe. Von Der Leyen in fact aimed in his words to clarify that access to social media it must have even tighter regulation and above all shared with governments. At the moment Big Tech is largely acting in autonomy. It is not clear what the final point of this discussion will be. It is likely that before discussing regulation at European level they will wait for the definitive results of the investigation the European Commission is working on.
Europe says Instagram and Facebook are built to be addictive: ‘Driven on autopilot’
The point about access to screens for children
This time the debate also covered another point. In addition to the presence of minors on social media, von der Leyen spoke more generally aboutaccess to platforms for childrenthis time as simple spectators: “We know that very young children should not have any exposure to screens and digital platforms. Therefore: no screens under the age of three. Children should only be exposed to social media under the supervision of parents, guardians or teachers, and with time limits.” Well, if defining social media access rules is possible, perhaps it seems more difficult to imagine how to apply them a ban on screens for up to three years.
