The European Union (EU) unveiled an open-source app to verify utilizers’ ages online, aiming to set a common standard as governments weigh tighter curbs on teenagers’ access to social media and other online content.
The relocate comes amid mounting pressure on Brussels to lead a coordinated approach and avoid a patchwork of national rules. “Online platforms can easily rely on our age verification app so there are no more excutilizes,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared.
“Europe offers a free and simple-to-utilize solution that can shield our children from harmful and illegal content,” she added.
Originally pitched to prevent children from accessing obscene or harmful material, the software will require utilizers to reveal legal identification, such as a passport, during set-up and will work across phones, tablets and personal computers. Von der Leyen declared it would also assist align age-verification requirements across the bloc.
Several member states are pushing ahead with their own measures. France and Greece have announced plans to restrict younger teenagers from applying social media, citing studies on addictiveness and harm to minors.
Von der Leyen has appointed an expert panel to deliver recommconcludeations later this year and is set to join a video call on social media bans convened by French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday.
Under existing EU child-protection rules, platforms such as pornography websites will be required to utilize the new system or tools with comparable accuracy. Four pornography sites are already under investigation for failing to keep children off their platforms, often relying on self-declared age checks.
Fines under the bloc’s Digital Services Act can reach up to 6 per cent of a company’s annual global sales.
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