France has taken another step in its strategy to restrict minors’ access to social networks. The Senate approved this Tuesday the bill promoted by President Emmanuel Macron to ban certain platforms to those under 15 years of age.
Although with important modifications with respect to the initial version approved by the deputies of the National Assembly, The Upper House gave the green light to a text that limited the restriction to two categories of applications; those that harm the “physical, mental or moral development” of minors, which would be totally prohibited in the country, and those considered less harmful, which would be accessible with parental authorization.
Nevertheless, the modification of the initial text was not liked to part of the French government nor to the author of the project herself, deputy Laure Miller, who considered that they put “the entire text in danger.” For others, like Nacho Guadix, the Director of Education and Children Digital Rights, UNICEF Spain, This gesture is “a first step”, although insufficient on its own. “Setting a minimum age is a useful tool, but it cannot be the only answer. Purely restrictive measures tend to displace the problem without eliminating the risks,” he said, underlining the need to impose stricter obligations on platforms “in terms of safe design, age verification and data protection.”
The amendments, however, are now in the hands of the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom), a body that must review their legal adequacy. It must also be submitted to the analysis of a joint joint commission of deputies and senators, to try to agree on a common text that in turn must be voted on again by both chambers. These procedures could jeopardize the president’s intention for said ban to come into force next September.
An unconstitutional law?
The delegate minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs, Anne Le Hénanff, alerted the Chamber that the Senate text enters into conflict with European law, by attacking freedom of information, communication or right to privacy. Furthermore, he recalled that no country can block or restrict digital services unilaterally if this affects the European single market, which makes the practical application of the rule difficult.
Along the same lines, Marc Damie, spokesperson in France for the youth group ‘ctrl+alt+reclaim’positively valued the Senate’s change of approach, although he considered it insufficient; “The only sustainable response is to force platforms to respect European law, while supporting the emergence of healthy and sovereign European alternatives,” he insisted.
Beyond the prohibition of social networks for those under 15 years of age, the text also includes a veto on the use of mobile phones in schools, with the aim that can be implemented next school year.
Violence and recruitment on social networks
The project presented by Emmanuel Macron is not an isolated measure, since it is part of an international trend, such as Australia or the United Kingdom, who have already begun to explore similar measures in the face of the increase in problems associated with the use of screens; from mental health disorders to violence, such as cyberbullying.
The trigger is not only health. In recent years, French authorities have detected an explosion of violence that begins on screens but ends up taking to the streets, with cases even of the recruitment of minors through social networks by mafias. This same week, two minors were arrested after trying attack on a Bank of America branch in Paris, after having allegedly been recruited by a pro-Iranian group through Snapchat in exchange for 600 euros.
The French government wants to stop this problem at its roots, therefore, the new bill will not only prohibit social networks for minors under 15 years of age, but also the veto on the use of mobile phones in schools.
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