More social networks without parental consent: Parliament on Thursday passed the obligation for platforms like TikTok, Snapchat or Instagram to verify the age of their users and parental consent if they are under 15 years old.
After the National Assembly finally gave the green light the previous day, the bill also received unanimity from the Senate on Thursday. The text by Laurent Marcangeli, head of the Horizons Chamber of Deputies (presidential camp), is worth finally approving and examining in a consensual atmosphere in the two chambers.
The effective date will be set by decree after the European Commission has issued an opinion on compliance with EU law. Social networks then have one year to fulfill their obligations in the case of new registrations.
“Rest assured that we will ensure that this text can be applied as soon as possible,” promised Jean-Noël Barrot, the minister responsible for digital transformation, welcoming an action “that will represent a milestone”.
From pornography to cyberbullying, to going through unattainable beauty standards or addiction procedures to garner attention, MPs listed the risks the youngest need to be protected from.
The numerical majority at the age of 15, to which the draft law refers, was introduced in France in 2018 according to European legislation that left the possibility to set it at an age between 13 and 16 years.
However, this threshold concerns more generally the age at which parental consent is required for the processing of a minor’s personal data. First of all, it is not really applied and does not affect children’s access to social networks.
“Penalties Planned”
Theoretically, social networks are not accessible to children under 13 years of age. But the first registration there would be around eight and a half years old on average, and according to the National Commission for Informatics and Liberties (CNIL), more than half of the 10 to 14 year olds are present there.
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Faced with this situation, the adopted text provides for an obligation for social networks to verify the age of users and, for those under 15, to obtain “the authorization of one of the holders of parental authority”.
They must use “technical solutions according to a reference system” established by the Audiovisual and Digital Communications Regulatory Authority (Arcom).
The lack of a unanimity mechanism has been stressed throughout the debates, but MEPs said that shouldn’t stop them from making a strong statement.
Parental consent must also be obtained for accounts already held by children under the age of 15, a requirement that comes into effect two years after the statutory regulation.
In case of violation, social networks are punished with a fine of up to 1% of the company’s global turnover.
“Mother of Battles”
The text also allows a holder of parental authority to request the account suspension of a child under the age of 15. And it requires networks to enable a device to monitor usage time for minors.
The text “on its own will not be enough to put an end to the excesses,” its initiator Laurent Marcangeli admitted on Wednesday, calling for “advances in age verification techniques and massive investments in digital education for parents, children and teachers.”
It is not about “denying young people access to a social network, but about responding appropriately to the abuses that arise from early and unsupervised use,” emphasized Alexandra Borchio Fontimp (LR), rapporteur on the text in the Senate , on Thursday .
These new provisions are part of a series of initiatives from the President’s camp.
A text on the protection of children’s image rights in social networks was recently adopted in first reading by the two chambers, which have not yet been able to reach a common version. In addition, in March, the Assembly passed measures to tackle excessive screen exposure for children at first reading.
On the executive side, the government will defend a bill to “Secure and Regulate the Digital Space” in the Senate starting July 4. In particular, this involves measures to implement the obligation for pornographic websites to verify that their users are of legal age.
Age verification “is the mother of all struggles,” Barrot pointed out Thursday.