This article was originally published in English
The move comes as several of the new EU commissioners have made child safety online a top priority.
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US tech giant Meta on Tuesday proposed to the European Commission a harmonized system of age verification and security standards for apps and online services, to protect teenagers across the European Union.
This proposal provides for age verification and parental consent for downloads of applications for those under 16 years old. If a minor child wants to download an app, online app stores would be required to notify their parents, according to Meta’s proposal. Parents would then decide whether or not to approve the download.
The company also wants EU-wide industry standards for age-appropriate experiences for teenagers.
“Companies should align on the types of content they consider age-appropriate, as is the case with other media such as movies and video games. Additionally, some apps, including including social media applications, should offer supervision tools for adolescents under 16 that parents can activate and control.”indicates the press release.
This call comes as the new Commissioner for Technology, Henna Virkkunen, described the protection of minors as “absolute priority”.
The safety of young people online is also partly the responsibility of Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner and Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath.
“European regulations on the safety of young people are too fragmented”said Antigone Davis, global head of security at Meta, in a blog post.
“That’s why we urgently need new EU regulation that provides consistent protections for teenagers online, requiring online app stores to verify teenagers’ ages and obtain parental approval when teenagers under 16 download an application”she added.
The 27 EU member states are currently free to set their own rules for age verification and there are no European standards, although some EU rules provide for better age verification to protect minors, including the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD).
The proposed regulation on child pornography material (CSAM), currently debated in the EU Council, also relies on the identification of minors online to protect them from predators.
