Regulate Tech, Not Children: 144 Groups Urge EU to Strengthen Digital Safety Rules
Over 140 child rights, digital rights and mental health organisations and experts are calling on the European Union to make digital services safer for children, not by restricting children’s access to technology.
144 organisations and experts signed a joint letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ahead of her State of the Union address on September 16, asking for a harmonised European framework that will make digital products and services safe for children by design and by default.
The call comes after the European Commission’s expert panel report on child safety online called for more robust safety-by-design and age-appropriate design measures. The groups are calling on the EU to hold technology companies accountable for ensuring that services available to children are safe.
They propose to introduce compulsory age-appropriate safety requirements, age limits on dangerous features, positive safety features, and independent child-safety risk assessments and pre-certification prior to the launch or major changes to services.
They also recommended independent audits and increased enforcement to ensure that companies meet the standards.
The campaign follows weeks of debate in France over a bill that would have banned social media for children under 15, which was rejected by the country’s Constitutional Council, sparking worries over sweeping restrictions on children’s rights and the varying dangers of each social media platform.
Children require safe, age-appropriate digital services, not quick-fix bans, said Leanda Barrington-Leach of 5Rights Foundation.
Eurochild and Amnesty International also called for tougher EU standards, saying that children should not be left to fend for themselves in digital environments that are designed to engage them and generate profit.
The organisations are urging EU leaders to make child rights and safety the focus of technology regulation.
