EU unveils online age verification app
The European Commission wants to introduce a new age verification app to enhance child protection online. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in Brussels that the app is ready for launch and will soon be available to the public. Is this the breakthrough in the fight against smartphone addiction, cyberbullying and the harmful influence of social media on minors?
Parents finally have a weapon against Big Tech
De Standaard is overjoyed:
“This is the magic piece of technology that will be able to stop social media companies from continuing to violate the law with impunity. In a sense, we could describe the introduction of this age verification app as historic: for the first time since the rise of the smartphone, parents and governments have the necessary means to find a good balance for healthy smartphone use and to protect their children against a greed-driven assault.”
Addictive design is the problem
Age verification will not automatically make social media less dangerous, argues Frankfurter Rundschau:
“The real problem is not the age of the users. It's the addictive design strategies baked into social media, and these keep plenty of adults glued to their phones as well. The tech companies have been allowed to set the rules for too long – with voluntary commitments rather than binding laws, with in-house ethics committees rather than proper regulations. Elected politicians and public institutions should be the ones who decide what risks society can tolerate, not tech companies. But for this to happen, we will need a lot more than an age verification app.”