European digital and telecommunications ministers are meeting on Friday 10 October in Horsens, Denmark, for an informal meeting focusing on the protection of minors online, with a particular emphasis on age verification on social networks (see EUROPE 13716/7).
Now a highly political issue, it is being prioritised by the Danish Presidency of the EU Council (see EUROPE 13681/25), primarily supported by France (see EUROPE 13666/24). Earlier this week, the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, told Parliament that her government planned to prohibit “several social networks” to minors under the age of 15, without specifying which ones.
While the desire to empower parents and to put pressure on platforms to offer a digital environment that is more suitable for minors is the subject of consensus among the EU27, the issue of a “digital majority” and online age control is the subject of debate within the Member States.
This informal meeting is intended to address these two thorny issues, which are not covered by the obligations under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which targets platforms and the operation of their algorithms.
“The aim [of the meeting] is to create political momentum and a common direction within the EU, for example with a view to the text on digital equity”, explains the Danish Presidency of the EU Council.
This text, the future ‘Digital Fairness Act’, should, in theory, tackle the grey areas of online consumer protection, such as addictive designs of digital services, deceptive interfaces (‘dark patterns’) and advertising targeted at minors (see EUROPE 13683/12).
The informal meeting should result in a joint declaration, known as the “Jutland Declaration”, an almost finalised version of which has been obtained by Agence Europe (see EUROPE 13719/7).
The latest version of the text, dated 26 September, does not close the door to the drafting of a legislative text if this is “necessary to complete” the DSA, despite the European desire to “redouble efforts to simplify existing legislation and reduce the regulatory burden”. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)