EU Nations Urge Stricter Social Media Age Checks

(MENAFN) France, Spain, and Greece are strongly promoting the introduction of compulsory age verification on major social media platforms such as Meta’s Facebook and Elon Musk’s X, based on a report by a news outlet on Friday.

Under the proposed guidelines, all devices connected to the internet would need to include technology capable of verifying a user’s age.

Digital service ministers from these three EU countries are collaborating on this initiative in preparation for an upcoming meeting with their fellow ministers across the European Union scheduled for June 6, a document referenced by the news outlet revealed.

The trio of countries reportedly claim that the “lack of proper and widespread age-verification mechanisms” makes it challenging to uphold age restrictions effectively.

Their goal is to utilize the EU’s substantial market of 450 million consumers as leverage to push tech corporations into adopting comprehensive age verification procedures, the report stated.

French Leader Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed on Tuesday his backing for compulsory age checks for teenagers signing up on social media, asserting that online platforms have played a role in emotional distress and mental health challenges among youth.

“We must protect our children,” he expressed during an interview with a news agency, emphasizing that mandatory age verification on social platforms should be enforced.

The news outlet further noted that the European Commission, along with several other EU countries, is already experimenting with pilot programs aimed at enhancing parental controls and age validation.

However, their progress is being obstructed by differences in regulations between member states and the relative simplicity with which users can still access these platforms from beyond the EU.

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