LISBON (Kashmir English): In one of the first concrete legislative moves in Europe to impose such restrictions, Portugal’s parliament has approved a bill, on its first reading, requiring explicit parental consent for children aged 13 to 16 to access social media.
Authors of the draft legislation from the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) said it was need of the time to protect children from cyberbullying, harmful content and predatory individuals.
Parents will use a public system known as Digital Mobile Key (DMK) to give consent, also helping to enforce the existing ban for children under the age of 13 to access digital social media, video- and image-sharing platforms, or online betting sites.
Tech providers are also under obligation to implement an age verification system compatible with the DMK.
The bill, approved by 148–69 votes with 13 abstentions, can still be amended before the final vote.
France’s lower house in January backed legislation to ban children under 15 from social media amid growing concerns about online bullying and mental health risks.
Social media ban in Australia
In December, Australia banned under-16s access to social media platforms including Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.
The Portuguese bill says that over the past two decades, social media have assumed roles long held by families and schools without regulation.
“We have to protect our children…we don’t intend to prohibit for the sake of prohibiting, we intend to create a norm to give more power to parents and families, to accompany and control,” PSD lawmaker Paulo Marcelo said before the vote.
He warned tech companies ignoring the restrictions could face fines of up to 2 percent of their global revenue.
