France, Greece, Spain and Ireland to push for EU-wide social media age verification

This combination of photos shows logos of X, formerly known as Twitter, top left; Snapchat, top right; Facebook, bottom left; and TikTok, bottom right. [AP Photo, File] France, in coordination with Greece, Spain and Ireland, is preparing to push for new European legislation requiring mandatory age verification for creating social media accounts, French Deputy Minister for Digital Policy Clara Chappaz said on Sunday. In an interview with Libération, Chappaz said that French President Emmanuel Macron has long supported stricter rules around digital exposure for minors, advocating for a ban on mobile phone use before the age of 11 and access to social media before the age of 15. These proposals are grounded in expert research on the impact of screen time on children’s mental and emotional development. Chappaz stressed that the current Digital Services Act (DSA) does not go far enough in protecting minors online. “We must go beyond the European institutional framework of the Digital Services Act to strengthen its solvency and oblige social media not to accept account creation without age verification,” she said. The French government is now seeking to build a coalition with like-minded EU member states, with Chappaz aiming to mobilize partners within three months.
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