MEPs vote on mandatory parental consent for children under 15

MEPs want to restrict children’s access to social networks. The National Assembly voted, Thursday, March 2, in first reading, the establishment of an obligation for platforms like TikTok or Snapchat to verify the age of their users. The agreement of the parents will be essential for the registration of children under 15, with penalties in the event of breaches, according to this text, which must now be examined in the Senate.

There “numerical majority” age 15 to which the text refers is not new: it was introduced in France in 2018. But this threshold concerns more broadly the age under which parental consent is required for the personal data of a minor to be processed. Not really applied, it had no impact in terms of children’s access to social networks.

A fine of 1% of turnover?

To remedy this, the heart of the text voted on Thursday establishes the obligation for social networks “to set up a technical solution for verifying the age of end users and the consent of holders of parental authority” for children under 15, “solution” which must be certified by the authorities. In the event of a breach, a fine may be imposed on the company, up to 1% of its worldwide turnover.

The text also gives parents the possibility of requesting the suspension of the account of a child under the age of 15. A constraint was added by amendment, specifying that parents could not give their consent for the registration of children under 13, except for “labeled platforms”.

On social networks, the first registration “appears on average around 8 and a half years old, and more than half of 10-14 year olds are present”according to data from the Cnil cited by the deputies.