Five EU states to test age-check app to protect children online
BRUSSELS (AFP)Five EU countries including France will test an app aimed at preventing children from accessing harmful content online by checking users' ages, the European Commission said Monday.Several European nations have ramped up the pressure on the bloc to better protect minors online through more stringent measures, with some going as far as to advocate banning social media for under-15s.On Monday, the commission unveiled the prototype of an age-verification app that Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, and Spain will customise to launch national versions within several months."It will allow users to easily prove they are over 18 years old, protecting children from inappropriate content," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen told reporters.The aim is for each member state to develop their own app since they have different rules and may wish to tailor age limits for different services.For example, France has set a minimum age of 15 to use social media, greater than the 13 set by the platforms themselves -- though it is still waiting for an EU green light for those rules to come into force.The 27-country European Union has some of the world's strictest digital rules to bring Big Tech to heel, with several investigations ongoing into how platforms protect children -- or fail to do so.Once the app is available, users would be able to download it from an online store and then use it to verify that they are above the age to access a website or platform.On Monday, the EU also published recommendations to online platforms to ensure the safety of children and prevent their exposure to dangerous behaviour.These include removing "addictive" features such as "read receipts" which tell users when an individual has seen their message, making it easier for minors to block or mute users and preventing accounts from downloading or taking screenshots of content.
The EU also recommended platforms turn off notifications by default, especially during sleeping hours, limit apps' access to photos, or turn off the camera by default.
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