Does a minimum age for social media actually make sense?
The Jetten I coalition proposes to set a minimum age of 15 for social media. But is that actually possible? UvA researcher Paddy Leerssen delved into the legislation. “There are already plenty of regulations in place, but they are not being enforced.”
Introducing a minimum age for the use of social media is an emerging measure worldwide. In March, Indonesia followed in the footsteps of neighbouring Australia by introducing a ban on children’s use of social media. Other countries have put similar plans in motion.
Now the Netherlands is following suit, with the new government seeking to introduce a minimum age of 15 for the use of social media. In an advisory report, UvA lawyer and researcher Paddy Leerssen, together with UvA professor of information law Joris van Hoboken, investigated whether such a ban is legally feasible. After all, a plan in a coalition agreement is not yet a bill, explains Leerssen.
Unsafe
The main reason for imposing a social media ban on children is that the platforms are deemed “unsafe”. In March, the Indonesian Minister for Communications, Meutya Hafid, told De Volkskrant that the introduction of the law in the archipelago was necessary to protect children from “the risks of pornography, online bullying, scams and, above all, addiction.” The Dutch proposal states that the minimum age will apply “as long as social media are not sufficiently safe”. No further details are provided. “That is, of course, very subjective,” says Leerssen. “It is a combination of gathering scientific evidence and a political judgement as to which risks we consider acceptable.”
The current generation of students grew up with social media and have also experienced its downsides. But would they themselves have wanted a ban on social media? Folia asked a number of UvA students.
European Law
Unlike in Australia, where a completely new policy was introduced, the Netherlands already has legal frameworks – particularly at European level – in place to restrict the use of social media among young people. Take the major platforms, such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. Supervision of these companies falls under the remit of the European Commission. So even if a minimum age for social media were to be introduced at national level, local authorities would not in all cases have the power to actually enforce it.
Two years ago, the Digital Services Act (DSA) was introduced in the European Union. Under this European legislation, a minimum age already applies to “unsafe services on the basis of the risks involved”, as described in the advisory report. In addition, the DSA obliges social media platforms to strictly comply with their own age requirements, which for most platforms is 13 years. Furthermore, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) stipulates that parental consent is required for children up to the age of 16.
So, in fact, a minimum age for children already exists. “But there is little awareness of, or enforcement of, those rules,” adds Leerssen. He wonders whether raising the age to 15 really makes sense. The crux of the matter lies in compliance, he says. “If you introduce a minimum age, you must also enforce it properly; that is hardly being done at present.”
Enforcing the rules
We could simply start by properly enforcing the rules that are already in place, suggests Leerssen. “Then you’re actually already where you want to be.” But there are still a number of snags involved. The coalition agreement also states that the European minimum age must be “enforceable” by means of “privacy-friendly age verification”.
There are currently three methods for determining a user’s age: a self-declaration by the user, which is currently the norm; age verification using identification documents; and age estimation. In a self-declaration, it is easy to state a higher age, so that is essentially pointless, says Leerssen. Age verification entails privacy risks and may, for example, exclude migrants or people with low digital literacy. Age estimation, as practised in Australia, is not always reliable, however.
Leerssen argues that the various methods for determining a user’s age can still be easily circumvented using VPNs or by enlisting the help of an adult friend. “You have to weigh up the costs against the benefits of social media.” And so far, age verification checks seem to have yielded little result.
Symbolic law
Nevertheless, Leerssen believes that such a new law could also have a positive effect. “It serves as a signal, a sort of symbolic law.” In his view, it is about creating a social norm, which encourages not only parents but also children themselves to think more consciously about the costs and benefits. “A statutory minimum age also makes it easier for parents to set boundaries.”
This has an effect, as the case of Australia shows. Social media use among children there has declined, although this has little to do with compliance with the provisions of the new law and more to do with awareness of it and the choices that parents and children make themselves, according to Leerssen. “When introducing such a law, you shouldn’t assume it will yield immediate results.”
Leerssen: “The most important advice is that the platforms must be made aware of the obligations they already have. But the question remains: how can we get that message across effectively?”
