The European Commission has formally adopted the EU Kids Act, which will limit access to social media for minors and impose an obligation on social media platforms to demonstrate their services and both safe and age appropriate.
The proposals must now make their way through the European Parliament and the European Council before becoming law. It remains to be seen whether its flagship measure – a ban on children creating their own accounts until they are 15 – survives a process which can take up to two years. Children under the age of 13 would not be allowed access social media and those between 13 and 15 would get restricted access.
At the heart of the proposed law is a reversal of the burden of proof – with social media platforms required to show their services are safe for children, rather than parents and others having to demonstrate they are dangerous. The European Commission will be the judge.
The Irish Government favours a social media ban for under-16s but has also expressed a preference for moving in lockstep with the rest of the European Union on the issue. There is, of course, nothing to stop it moving ahead with its own ban, but that would appear unlikely as the lengthy EU legislative process may well suit it, as it tries to balance public support for a ban with the interests of the various social media platforms that have their European head offices and other operations in Ireland.
RM Block
It will not be lost on the Government – and indeed the European Commission – that the end of the EU legislative process dovetails nicely with the end of the term of the current US president, who opposes such measures.
The corollary is that the Government may come under pressure from the likes of Facebook and Google to seek the watering down of proposed EU legislation. Any such move is unlikely to have public support and if anything, the Government will be under pressure from voters to move faster and more boldly. If the choice is between the public good and the commercial interests of the tech platforms, then the answer should be straightforward.
.
