Restrain Social Media Firms, Not Children: Experts, Activists
Over 130 experts and rights activists have urged the European Union (EU) and other countries imposing restrictions on minors to rein in social media firms to make their platforms safe for children.
Over 130 experts and rights activists have urged the European Union (EU) and other countries imposing restrictions on minors to rein in social media firms to make their platforms safe for children.
In a letter sent to EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen, 132 children's rights, digital rights and mental health organisations and experts have urged against measures like blanket bans or imposing age limit that offload "the burden of safety onto parents or children", according to news agency AFP.
The signatories, including 5Rights Foundation, an advocacy group for children's online rights, Amnesty International, and Center for Countering Digital Hate among dozens of others, called for a Europe-wide framework for digital safety.
The EU's approach should focus on the safety of the technology children use, including through enforcement of the bloc's Digital Services Act, instead of denying minors access to platforms, they argued.
"It must ensure that proportionate age restrictions go hand-in-hand with robust safety measures so that digital environments both protect and empower children, by design and default," they wrote.
Their call came a week before Von der Leyen was to outline how the EU intends to better protect children online from dangerous content and addictive apps, AFP reported.
Von der Leyen had indicated in July that she supported giving children gradual access to social media and ensuring platforms had safety features on by default.
A number of countries - including Malaysia, Japan, Russia, Australia, France, Spain, Denmark, Italy and Greece, have already imposed ban and age limit or considering a similar move on social media use for children.
Follow ummid.com WhatsApp Channel for all the latest updates.
Select Language to Translate in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic
