British ministers are calling for a “digital passport” for children and young people. This is intended to prevent young people from being exposed to pornography on social media and from being able to circumvent the age restrictions of popular platforms.
According to a press release, the virtual ID is intended to ensure who is how old. After a possible implementation, this could also be required as proof of registration in social networks.
Proof of age for teens
According to a Telegraph report, officials are already working on concrete plans to give every teenager a unique online ID to prevent access to inappropriate content. Such checks could mean that minors online will be required to provide this proof to ensure age limits are adhered to on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
“One of the worries we all have is that children will stumble upon pornography. “We know that social media platforms on which children are frequently active can be up to a third pornographic,” said Minister Carol Monaghan of the Scottish National Party. “At the moment we believe we have a robust means of verifying the age of people from the age of 18. The challenge is to develop tools that detect the age of younger people – such as 13-year-olds.”
Longer development time
Still, it could take some time before a digital passport becomes a reality. According to Monaghan, around two years would be realistic to develop such a tool and receive sufficient public support for the system. Minister Margot James emphasizes that regulated age restrictions for pornographic websites should be introduced next Easter. Nevertheless, it is important to create an ID card for young users that also confirms their age on the web.
Sense or nonsense?
Only at first glance does this seem like a pretty good idea.
But the longer you think about it, the more nonsensical the idea seems, which has too many gaps. Children and young people today are far more experienced in using technology than many adults. Children as young as 5 can use a tablet more skillfully than their grandparents. The young people set up the computer for their parents.
Now in Great Britain these children and young people are to be given a unique ID to make age verification easier. So they can't watch porn.
But what does the reality look like?
Facebook is currently for ages 13 and up, but it may be raised to 16 years.
But Facebook doesn't actually verify age, and it's unlikely they'll change their technology to recognize digital IDs because of Britain's plans.
In addition, although every nipple is quickly blocked on Facebook, violence and hate videos and images are only dealt with very laxly.
Instagram is for ages 13 and up, age will be requested if the account is not linked to Facebook. So if you have already given an incorrect date of birth on Facebook, you will not have any problems on Instagram.
WhatsApp is for ages 16 and up, teenagers ages 13 and over need parental consent. At least that's the nice theory. But does a digital ID prevent the sending of pornographic material and cyberbullying among children and young people?
YouTube makes the age rating dependent on the country from which it is accessed, for example in Austria from 14 years. For younger users there is Youtube Kids .
Snapchat has an age rating of 13 years and over.
All of these age restrictions are all well and good, but do they also prevent the distribution of material that is unsuitable for children and young people? A digital ID can only check whether the age restriction is met. For further measures, all of these platforms would have to work with the developers of the digital ID in order to be technically effective.
A cross-platform “child protection” would have to be developed that filters out pornographic material anytime and anywhere.
And we're not just talking about social media platforms, but also porn websites worldwide! Great Britain can certainly ask the operators of those websites in Great Britain to improve their protection, but that is only a small fraction. Why does a website in Guatemala care that there is a digital ID in the UK?
In the end, it just boils down to the fact that children and young people can be monitored to see which websites they visit, but there is almost nothing that can prevent them. The platforms themselves are called upon to prevent and combat such content, and parents are also called upon to observe their children's online behavior and talk to them instead of relying on a digital ID.
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