HIBAPRESS – Following
The European Parliament approved, on Wednesday, a non-binding decision calling for setting the age of 16 as the minimum age for users of social media platforms and AI-powered chat robots, with the aim of ensuring "age-appropriate digital interaction." This decision comes within the framework of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which obliges platforms to comply with national laws, while leaving the freedom to determine the minimum age to each country.
Protecting Children from Digital Risks
In Wednesday's session, lawmakers adopted a non-legislative report by a majority of 483 votes to 92 and 86 abstentions, in which they expressed deep concern about the physical and psychological risks to which children are exposed on the Internet, and called for enhanced protection from manipulative strategies that increase addiction and weaken children's ability to focus and interact healthily with digital content.
Digital Verification Tools and Platform Responsibility
The Parliament suggests unifying the minimum digital age at 16, while allowing the age group between 13 and 16 to enter with parental consent. Members of Parliament also supported the development of an age verification application and the European Digital Identity Wallet (eID), while emphasizing the need for the accuracy of these systems and the preservation of children's privacy, while maintaining the responsibility of platforms to ensure the safety of their services from the design stage.
In addition, the Parliament proposes the possibility of holding senior managers personally responsible in cases of serious and repeated non-compliance, especially with regard to the protection of minors and age verification.
Banning Harmful Digital Practices and Commercial Exploitation
The decision includes a call to ban addictive practices that keep children glued to screens, such as infinite scrolling, automatic playback, and reward loops. It also called for protecting children from commercial exploitation, by preventing the provision of financial incentives to "child influencers," and addressing the legal and ethical challenges of generative artificial intelligence tools, including deepfakes and AI-based nudity applications.
The "X" and "TikTok" platforms have previously faced official investigations for violating the rules of the Digital Services Act, which reflects the importance of these recommendations for protecting children on the Internet.
