Social media ban in Europe possible after law amendment proposal

European politicians have proposed an amendment to the European Data Protection Regulation – which would increase the legal age for social media to 16, from 13.

Companies wishing to allow those under 16 to use their services, including Facebook, Snapchat, Whatsapp and Instagram, will have to gain explicit consent from their legal guardian.

It added, “This development would make it far more hard for online services to offer children age-appropriate guidance and tools to ensure a safe and privacy-protective experience online”. That seems the most likely thing to happen; after all, it’s not as if everyone on these services is over the age of 13 as is.

The move has caused an outcry among youth campaigners, many of whom claim it could negatively impact millions of teenagers.

As dictated by digital consent laws in both the USA and European Union, you now have to be at least 13 to use sites like Facebook; this supposedly shields children 12 and under from inappropriate content and data tracking. This means that teenagers would need to ask permission from their parents before they use any services related from the internet.

Facebook required users to be 17 or older before 2006, when it was opened up to the public, but that did not stop teenagers from signing up. “That includes email accounts, social media platforms and downloading apps”.

For the technology companies the biggest issue with the new rules would be policing them.

Others claim that social media has provided an essential lifeline for troubled teens, as well as the danger is the fact that they’ll unable to go online in search of help. European legislators are no doubt under intense lobbying pressure to remove the age of consent change from the draft.

According to The Guardian’s report, until this recent amendment was introduced, the data protection law would have set this age of consent in Europe at 13.