Soon we could have to download an app that verifies our age before we can use social media. In an attempt to protect minors from harmful exposure to smartphones, the European Union will launch this application in July to strengthen the application of the rules to protect minors on digital platforms. The app, designed as a precursor of the digital identity portfolio scheduled for 2026, will allow users to confirm their age without having to share personal data with websites.
Although the EU has not imposed a single compulsory standard for age verification, it has established precise legal responsibilities for the platforms that offer dangerous content or aimed at minors. According to Brussels, the new app can improve controls, especially towards those online services that do not do enough to mitigate risks.
Protect minors
“The protection of minors is a very important priority for us, and we intend to act more in this area,” he told the Financial Times Henna Virkkunen, European commissioner responsible for technology. Finnish policy has urged digital companies to take stronger voluntary measures to protect children, instead of waiting for government interventions that could generate divergent regimes from one country to another and also create confusion for companies.
“It would also be positive for the platforms themselves if they developed a design with a high level of security, privacy and protection for minors,” added Virkkunen.
Privacy
In addition to the verification of the age, Brussels wants to strengthen the protections of the accounts for minors making them private by default and contrast the mechanisms that make social networks highly adduing. Meta and Tiktok are already under investigation for the so-called “Rabbit-Hole effect”, the one that leads us to spend hours scrolling tirelessly, and for the use of design considered potentially harmful, with possible fines in the event of default.
“Many online platforms use a very addicative design,” explained Virkkunen. “Minors use these apps for hours and hours, spend the whole day on the phone. Obviously, this has an impact on their well -being.”
This week, the European Commission has also started an investigation into four large pornographic sites, pornhubs, stripchat, xnxx and Xvideos, to ascertain whether their age verification systems are adequate to prevent access to minors.
A minimum EU age?
Several countries push to introduce a minimum age common at European level for the use of social media. But Virkkunen warned that it would be “difficult” to find an agreement on a shared threshold, given the differences between services and cultures in the various Member States. According to the commissioner, it is more effective to ask the platforms to evaluate and reduce the risks related to your design.
Despite the transatlantic tensions regarding digital regulation, with Brussels ready to affect the US tech exports if the commercial negotiations with Donald Trump will fail, the protection of minors represents a point of convergence between the two banks of the Atlantic.
During a recent visit to Washington, Virkkunen discussed online security with managers of American tech giants and US officials. “Also in the United States there is a lot of discussion of the protection of minors, and the same happens in other countries of the world,” he said. “Now this is an absolute priority.”
