By Gianluca Lo Nostro
BRUSSELS, April 15 (Reuters) – The EU’s age verification app for online platforms is ready and will soon be available to use, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday, as member states push ahead with plans to limit children’s access to social media.
Following Australia’s groundbreaking social media ban for children launched last year, a growing number of European nations are weighing their own restrictions as concerns mount over social media’s impact on the health and safety of minors.
“We are moving ahead with full speed and determination on the enforcement of our European rules. We are holding accountable those online platforms that do not protect our kids enough,” von der Leyen said at a press conference in Brussels.
The app, which will be compatible with both mobile devices and computers, will require users to upload their passport or ID card to confirm their age anonymously, she said.
“This app gives parents, teachers, caretakers a powerful tool to protect children, because we will have zero tolerance for companies that do not respect our children’s rights,” von der Leyen added.
GROWING MOMENTUM FOR MINIMUM AGE LIMITS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA
At least a dozen European countries, including non-EU nations Britain and Norway, have enacted or are considering legislation setting minimum age limits – typically between 13 and 16 years – for social media usage.
Speaking at the same press conference, Henna Virkkunen, the EU’s digital chief, said the bloc plans to establish a European coordination mechanism to ensure age verification is implemented across the various national schemes.
The Commission has been developing a harmonised digital verification system since last year.
Controlling children’s access to restricted online content presents governments with technical challenges. Australia has seen a huge spike in downloads of virtual private networks (VPN) since it introduced its social media ban, as users seek to bypass the measure to access restricted platforms.
A senior Commission official acknowledged that the EU’s age verification system can be bypassed by using a VPN but said the initiative was not aimed at policing people online.
“The app is the kind of barrier that avoids unintended exposure of kids,” the official said.
While no EU-wide binding legislation has been adopted yet, the European Parliament approved a resolution report in November calling for a minimum age of 16 for social media access across all member states.
A final decision on potential EU legislation will be made once a special panel on child safety online files its recommendations this summer, the senior Commission official said.
(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro; Editing by Bart Meijer and Joe Bavier)
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