It is expected that it will soon be more difficult for European teenagers to access social media content, and the European Union institutions are considering new regulations that would restrict the use of social media by those under 15.
Growing concerns about online harassment, disinformation and the circulation of child pornography on the Internet have prompted the proposal, which is still under discussion. Lawmakers acknowledge that introducing restrictions is a technological challenge, especially when it comes to age determination.
Ingrida Lauciuvienė, a mother of five, said her youngest children are growing up in a completely different digital environment than her older children. While the oldest children did not even have their own phones in their teens, the youngest freely uses the Internet. For safety reasons, the family’s 13-year-old son attends a school where the use of mobile phones is prohibited. Lauciuvienė added that this is a huge challenge for parents of their generation.
Parents and children’s rights advocates are calling for tighter controls on teenagers’ social media habits.
Kristina Mikoliūnienė, a member of the board of the Lithuania’s Communications Regulatory Authority, said that a few years ago, most of the harmful content on the internet was pornography, now there are more and more cases of cyberbullying and violent content.
Police spokesman Ramūnas Matonis noted that an alarming number of young people are filming and sharing violent acts. He said there is a trend of filming crimes and violence and then showing them for entertainment in public or private groups.
France passed a law two years ago requiring parental consent for social media use by children under the age of 15. Other EU countries are considering similar measures. However, the law is still delayed. Goda Klimavičiūtė, a correspondent in France for Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT, explained that the rules are very easy to circumvent, as
there is no reliable method to verify a child’s age or provide parental consent.
Australia is also considering stricter conditions for using social media, with a proposal to set an age limit of 16. Meanwhile, the country has already banned the use of phones in schools, in an effort to eliminate distractions and promote a healthy lifestyle.
Lithuania’s Communications Regulatory Authority is currently exploring the possibility of using digital identification. Mikoliūnienė explained that, just like showing a passport at the border, the digital world would also require a document confirming the right to access a given website.
According to Vilnius University, Lithuanian teenagers spend an average of five hours a day in front of screens.
Read the full article in English here: https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2598201/from-france-to-lithuania-parents-push-for-limiting-kids-access-to-social-media
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