Batu69 Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 New EU laws could ban under 16s from using Twitter and Facebook without their parents’ permission Under new EU law children could be prevented from using social media They would need their parent's permission to join Facebook or Twitter Officials have drawn up proposals to increase age of consent from 13 to 16 Critics say it will just lead to majority of youngsters lying about their age Children under the age of 16 could be stopped from using websites such as Facebook and Twitter without parental permission under a new European Union law. Brussels officials have drawn up proposals to increase the age of consent from 13 to 16 for sites that use personal data. The move would mean parents would have to give permission before children sign up to social media – but would most likely be ignored, with the majority of youngsters simply lying about their age. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat currently require users to be at least 13 years old, in line with European and American laws. Anti-bullying charity The Diana Award last night criticised the move, which is currently being discussed by the European Parliament and member states. In a letter to MEPs, the charity wrote: ‘Children aged 13 and above have long accessed online services; an artificial and sudden change to this threshold will likely result in many children between the ages of 13 and 15 lying about their ages in order to continue accessing online services – rather than asking their parents to consent. ‘This development would make it far more difficult for online services to offer children age-appropriate guidance and tools to ensure a safe and privacy-protective experience online. ‘By and large, online services have provided children with a safe place to explore and learn.’ The proposed change in the law has also come under attack from organisations including Google and Facebook, which accused the EU of ‘rushing’ its plans and not consulting with child safety groups. Alexander Whelan, from Digital Europe, which supports the technology industry within the EU, said: ‘It is unreasonable to think that a child of 15 needs parental consent in every situation.’ Meanwhile, another Europe-wide organisation, the ICT Coalition for Children Online, backed the suggestion that increasing the age for children to go online without supervision would only encourage them to lie about their age. The EU proposals state data use by ‘a child below the age of 16 years shall only be lawful if and to the extent that such consent is given or authorised by the holder of parental responsibility over the child’. News source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vibranium Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Some countries have already imposed an ID-registration scheme when signing on to online forums. I guess the EU Is slowly heading there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylence Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 It's not safe to submit birth certificates or IDs to any random website, even if it's Facebook or Twitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namek Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 EU sucks so much nowadays... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefa Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 The European Commission is considering making it illegal for social media sites to let 16-year-olds use their services without parental permission. The requirement has been put forward on the eve of one of the final discussions on the Draft Data Protection Regulation that is due to be voted on this Thursday. At its core, the amendment states that any site that processes personal data must ensure that parents have given permission for children under 16 to use the website. "The processing of personal data of a child below the age of 16 years shall only be lawful if, and to the extent that, such consent is given or authorised by the holder of parental responsibility over the child,” the amendment reads. The amendment will be debated by the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on Thursday. If passed it will then be voted on by MEPs before the end of the year. The law would come into force by 2017, if not sooner, and would apply equally to all European nations. The decision to raise the legal age at which children can use social sites to 16 will no doubt frustrate firms like Facebook and Twitter by cutting off a source of new users for three years and creating legal headaches about how to police such a requirement. The ICT Coalition for Children, a group that counts Facebook, Google and Twitter among its members, criticised the amendments for being made so late in the process and without any discussions. "Negotiators have rushed this amendment without soliciting any meaningful input from stakeholders, including child safety organisations," the group said in a published repsonse. "Negotiators should also explain the rationale for raising the age to 16; to date no explanation has been given." The move has also raised concerns from children’s groups. An open letter signed by several prominent charities and individuals, such as Anti-Bullying Pro and the Family Online Safety Institute, claimed that restricting access to social sites is likely to do more harm than good. “Children aged 13 and above shouldn’t be restricted from accessing critical online support services. Sadly, we know that some parents do not always act in their child’s best interests,” the letter reads. "The internet can represent a lifeline for children to get the help they need when they are suffering from abuse, living with relatives who are addicted to drugs or alcohol, or seeking confidential LGBT support services, to name a few." The letter also noted that the change would undoubtedly prompt children to lie about their age, meaning that sites would struggle to offer age-appropriate content or information to younger users. The Draft Data Protection Regulation has been debated for several years now, and many new, harsher provisions are included in the draft law. These include requiring 'explicit consent' from people to use their data for marketing purposes, and fines totalling two percent of turnover for non-compliance. Companies are also likely to have to appoint a dedicated data protection officer. This is likely to apply to all companies with over 250 employees, or with turnover of a certain amount. v3.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pequi Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Ban teens from doing something ? They must be joking. The best way to kill Facekook would be to make it mandatory for under 18's. Then nobody would use it.... except maybe as a punishment for not doing their homework. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CODYQX4 Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 1 hour ago, Pequi said: Ban teens from doing something ? They must be joking. The best way to kill Facekook would be to make it mandatory for under 18's. Then nobody would use it.... except maybe as a punishment for not doing their homework. Hah, make them use MySpace... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted December 16, 2015 Administrator Share Posted December 16, 2015 Threads merged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halteclere Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 On 12/15/2015 at 3:32 PM, saeed_dc said: It's not safe to submit birth certificates or IDs to any random website, even if it's Facebook or Twitter. Doesn't Facebook require you to submit a driver's license before they give you back a suspended account? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylence Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 30 minutes ago, Halteclere said: Doesn't Facebook require you to submit a driver's license before they give you back a suspended account? Yes any government issued ID will do that, not just driver license Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halteclere Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 Sad that they don't address that security issue first before putting the clampdown on everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.