"Minors deceiving age for account creation on social platforms"
France Cracks Down on Underage Social Media Use: Breaking Down the Challenges and Parental Approaches
Following the remarks of Clara Chappaz, the deputy minister in charge of Artificial Intelligence and Digital, France is actively working on enforcing age limits for social media use. As per the 2023 law, the legal age for digital use in France is 15. However, the law isn't fully enforced due to compliance issues with European law. According to a 2021 CNIL survey, about 66% of children under 13 have at least one social media account, effortlessly circumventing the legal framework.
"I lie about my age to create an account"
The adage "I'm on Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram" echoes the same sentiment among Parisian adolescents we conversed with. Crafting an account is merely a formality, as they conveniently exaggerate their age or simply provide a false birth date, enabling account creation.
"I say I'm a 2000, it's quite easy to remember. I can spend five or six hours a day just on TikTok"
"At 14 and 11, we lied about our age to open our accounts," confesses Natacha, a concerned parent. Despite the law mandating social media access restrictions before the age of 15, she opts to keep tabs on the content her children consume, routinely checking their devices.
"I check what they're watching. I'm on these social media myself and I regularly check their phones. They know, I tell them, and there's no problem. It's like a surprise quiz, I take their phones and I look. I check their messages, the people who are subscribed to them, etc."
Violetta, another parent, is more stringent in her approach, advising a complete abstention from phones before the age of 11. "It's a disaster for us, the parents. She doesn't listen, she's nervous, she's excited because of her phone," she voiced her concerns. However, this generation gap might prove more challenging, as Sophie, her 14-year-old daughter, lamented, "She doesn't realize how it is..."
France's proposed measures to safeguard minors online include parental consent requirements and proposed device bans for children under a certain age. However, navigating challenges such as EU compliance and enforcement practicality remain pivotal in achieving a harmonized, protected digital landscape for minors.
- The Parisian adolescents, who frequently use Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram, often lie about their ages to create social media accounts.
- Natacha, a concerned parent, confessed that her children, aged 14 and 11, lied about their ages to open their accounts, despite the legal age for digital use being 15 in France.
- To monitor her children's digital activities, Natacha routinely checks their devices, a practice she justifies as a way to ensure they are consuming appropriate content.
- Violetta, another parent, believes that phones should be avoided until the age of 11, but her concerns about the generation gap areechoed by her 14-year-old daughter Sophie, who feels her parent doesn't understand the realities of social media and entertainment.
