The European Union explores setting a “digital maturity age

The European Commission has stated that EU member states can determine the legal age for accessing social media platforms. The Commission’s spokesperson, Thomas Regnier, explained in Brussels that the decision to set the so-called “digital maturity age” – the age at which children need parental consent to process their data – is within the competence of the member state under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the bloc. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke about a plan to ban social media at the national level for children under the age of 15. Macron said that the EU would have three months to reach an agreement on this issue at the bloc level, or France would act alone and ban social media for children under 15. Technology Commissioner Henna Virkkunen told journalists that banning access to social media for users under 15 would be a “challenge” due to the variety of online platforms, and platforms must prioritize safety in designing their services and ensure a safe online environment for minors. Efforts from a group of seven countries in the EU have urged the Commission to establish EU-wide rules on age verification mechanisms to prevent minors from accessing harmful websites within the group. France, Denmark, and Greece want to set the “digital majority age” in the EU at 15. European spokesperson Thomas Regnier also said, “We of course share the same goal as French President Macron and we want to make the online environment a safer place for our children.