After Australia and France, now Spain and Greece are also tightening social media rules for children. These countries believe that social media is having a bad impact on children’s mental health. To stop this, they are bringing new laws, in which ‘age verification’ will be made mandatory so that underage children cannot use these apps. Simply put, a ‘No-Entry’ board is about to be put up for children on social media in these countries too.
Global concerns related to social media are no longer just a topic of discussion but are taking the form of strict laws. Considering the impact on children’s mental health, cyber security, and internet addiction, governments around the world are in action mode. In this sequence, now Spain and Greece are also preparing to make such strict laws that can limit social media use for the youth. Governments believe that legal intervention has now become mandatory to protect teenagers from the dangers of the digital world.
Spain: Total ban on those under 16
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has made a major announcement regarding children’s digital safety. According to the government’s plan, there are preparations to completely ban social media use for children under 16. The Prime Minister believes that it is extremely important to protect children from social media dangers and mental stress at a young age.
Greece: Access will be limited up to age 15
Greece is also indicating strict steps in this direction. According to government officials there, social media access for teenagers under 15 could be limited. The government is considering legal provisions to ensure that underage children cannot use these platforms without any supervision or safety standards.
Burden on parents will decrease
Often, it is very difficult for parents to keep their children away from social media on their own. The government believes that when there is a strict law in the country, it will work like a ‘Digital Guardian’ for them. With this, parents will no longer have to struggle alone with their children.
Curb on companies’ negligence
The Spanish government is bringing such a strict law that will end the arbitrariness of social media companies. Now, if hate speech or misinformation appears on any platform, not only the company but also its senior officers will be held personally responsible.
Start of the controversy: AI and fake images
Anger regarding social media increased further when serious allegations were made against Elon Musk’s AI chatbot ‘Grok’. The allegation was that using this technology, objectionable [content] of minor children