While governments around the world plan to restrict social media use among teenagers by introducing age verification, scientists have called for these plans to be put on hold until privacy and security issues are sorted out, reports Politico.
371 security and privacy researchers from 29 countries have signed an open letter calling for a temporary suspension of age verification for social media users because they are ineffective and pose serious risks.
While companies including OpenAI, Roblox and Discord are working on implementing age verification systems, knowing that they are needed, the scientists who signed the letter point out that it is dangerous and socially unacceptable to introduce large-scale control mechanisms without a clear understanding of the possible consequences for security, privacy and individual freedom and autonomy.
Scientists have called on governments to pause while they find a scientific consensus on the benefits and harms of age-verification technologies, as well as on the technical feasibility of implementing them.
France plans to ban children and teenagers under 15 from social media as early as September, and Germany, Denmark and Spain are also looking in this direction. Australia introduced a ban last December, becoming the first country in the world to restrict access to social media. Many leaders have supported it, citing the need to protect children’s physical and mental health, but it remains to be seen how the bans will be implemented and enforced.
The academics said in an open letter that they were also concerned about the impact of harmful content online on children.
At the same time, current plans would require all users, both minors and adults, to prove their age to communicate with friends and family, read news or search for information. This is much more than is ever required in real life.
The letter states that a robust age verification system would require verification of a government-issued identification document every time a person wants to use certain services. Such an infrastructure would not only be difficult to set up and maintain on an international scale, but would also create a burden that would force many service providers to abandon the implementation of age verification systems. In turn, the use of encryption technologies poses the risk of concentrating the tools in the hands of a few companies that are able to develop them for widespread use.
According to scientists, there is also a risk that governments will prohibit the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) to prevent circumvention of age verification systems. VPNs are regularly used by individuals who want to protect their identities in authoritarian regimes.
Read also: Toy retailers watch: What social media ban could mean for the sector