The commission referred to the growing debate around the protection of children on the Internet, which gained the pace after Tuesday's attack of a 14-year-old student on a teacher in French Nogent. French President Emmanuel Macron announced the possibility of introducing a national ban on access to social media for people under 15, if the European Union does not make decisions in this matter in the coming months.
Denmark, which on July 1 will cover a six -month presidency in the EU Council in Poland, also announced that the safety of children online will be one of the main topics of its agenda. This issue is to be the main point of the October meeting of EU ministers for digitization.
Minimum age of using social media. It is the countries that decide
KE spokesman Thomas Regnier reminded that according to the general regulation on the protection of personal data (GDPR), Member States have the right to determine the minimum age for independent use of digital services. By default, this age is 16 years old, but the regulations allow it to be reduced – up to the age of 13 – provided that children below this border use the platforms with the consent of the parent or guardian.
National regulations have not yet been introduced in this matter, which in practice means that the limit of 16 years is in force. In fact, however, many children – even from the age of 13 – without the consent of the guardian, set up accounts on social media, which is not in line with the GDPR.
The “Internet Children” report by the Digital Citizenship Institute shows that as much as 58 percent. Children aged 7-12 actively use at least one social platform or messenger, although they are officially available from 13 years of age. Every third child regularly uses a thicket, 24 percent Has a Facebook account, and 12 percent on Instagram.
