By Foo Yun Chee

Facebook, TikTok apps are seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

BRUSSELS, July 14 (Reuters) – France, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Greece will test a blueprint for an age verification app to protect children online, the European Commission said on Monday, amid growing global concern about the impact of social media on children’s mental health.

The setup for the age verification app is built on the same technical specifications as the European Digital Identity Wallet which will be rolled out next year. The five countries can customise the model according to their requirements, integrate into a national app or keep it separately.

The EU executive also published guidelines for online platforms to take measures to protect minors as part of their compliance with the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA).

The landmark legislation, which became applicable last year, requires Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) , opens new tab Google, Meta Platforms (META.O) , opens new tab, ByteDance’s TikTok and other online companies to do more to tackle illegal and harmful online content.

Elon Musk’s X, TikTok, Meta’s Facebook and Instagram and several adult content websites are currently being investigated by EU regulators on whether they comply with the DSA.

EU regulators said the new guidelines would help online platforms to tackle addictive design, cyberbullying, harmful content and unwanted contact from strangers.

“Platforms have no excuse to be continuing practices that put children at risk,” EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said in a statement.

The effect of social media on children’s mental health has become a growing global concern, with dozens of U.S. states suing Meta, while Australia last year banned social media for children under 16.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab

Suggested Topics:

An agenda-setting and market-moving journalist, Foo Yun Chee is a 21-year veteran at Reuters. Her stories on high profile mergers have pushed up the European telecoms index, lifted companies’ shares and helped investors decide on their next move. Her knowledge and experience of European antitrust laws and developments helped her break stories on Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta and Apple, numerous market-moving mergers and antitrust investigations. She has previously reported on Greek politics and companies, when Greece’s entry into the eurozone meant it punched above its weight on the international stage, as well as on Dutch corporate giants and the quirks of Dutch society and culture that never fail to charm readers.

Read Next

The crypto industry will take a step closer to going mainstream this week as a series of industry-friendly bills progress through Congress, paving the way for digital assets to potentially be further integrated into traditional finance.

Site Index

About Reuters

Stay Informed

Information you can trust

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world’s media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.

Read More