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Social Democrat MEP Christel Schaldemose has drafted a report in the European Parliament’s Internal Market Committee (IMCO) calling for stronger action from the Commission to protect children online.
French President Emmanuel Macron recently called for a European social media ban for children under 15, and the Commission is set to present child protection guidelines in July for major online platforms.
Euractiv sat down with Danish EU lawmaker Christel Schaldemose on Wednesday to discuss her draft report on protecting minors online in the European Parliament, and whether sufficient safeguards are in place from both platforms and lawmakers.
Note: This Q&A is an edited transcript.
You’re presenting your draft report on protecting minors today in IMCO. What are your main asks in the report?
Schaldemose: There is a common ground [between EU institutions and governments] when it comes to protecting minors. Too much content online is not age-appropriate and should not be accessible to teens. But what tools should we use? In my report, I ask the Commission to fully use and enforce the Digital Services Act (DSA) on this, which they agree. The Commission is preparing guidelines to protect minors, but we need to ask for EU-wide legislation on age verification and assurance, which the Commission does not agree with.
A crystal-clear obligation for companies to use age verification is required so that it cannot be challenged in court.
Recently, Meta launched a prominent campaign on age verification and parental control – what’s your take on their approach?
Schaldemose: Meta is trying to put responsibility on the politicians to do more – which I do not disagree with; it is important to have a universally clean obligation on platforms about age verification. However, they also ask for parents to do more through parental control – which I disagree with, because parents alone should not have an obligation to protect their kids online.
If Meta wanted to protect children online, it would make sure their recommender systems worked properly, but instead, they are trying to wash their own hands.
Do you think major online platforms are doing enough to protect kids online?
Schaldemose: Not at all. Most platforms are washing their hands like Meta and asking for European rules instead. Platforms have existing tools at hand, such as recommender systems and adjusting their algorithms to ensure that young people are not looking into age-inappropriate content.
Instagram and TikTok can avoid sending recommendations to kids on recommended content with strong algorithms. That is where DSA enforcement is important, which I emphasise in my report.
President Macron has asked for a social media ban for under-15-year-olds – do you think there should be an EU-wide social media ban?
Schaldemose: I am not in favour of any true bans on social media, but in favour of having age limits. If you are below a certain age limit – which can be discussed at a European level – then you should not be able to go on that platform. It implies a de facto ban for certain people. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat do not allow users below 13, but do not enforce this properly.
Do you think the Commission is doing enough to protect minors?
Schaldemose: No. The Commission’s DSA enforcement staff is working really hard, but if they do not get the right political signal from [the] top, then it is difficult to do more and come up with suggestions on the next steps. A new proposal from Digital Fairness is expected next year, but I want to see it before I believe that it would properly address addictive design, targeted ads and infinite scrolling for minors – which should be banned, in my personal opinion.
(nl, aw)
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