Teenagers under 16 will need parental consent for social media usage under new EU Law

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...ime=1450137665

Teenagers under 16 will need parental consent to use Facebook and email under EU laws

Last-minute changes to data protection regulations could mean social media and other internet services requiring parental consent

Teenagers under the age of 16 could be banned from Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and email if they don't have parental permission, under last-minute changes to EU laws. The European Union is on the verge of pushing through new regulations that would raise the age of consent for websites to use personal data from 13 to 16.

Officials quitely amended proposed data protection laws last week to increase the age and put the EU out of step with rules in other parts of the world.
It would mean that millions of teenagers under 16 would be forced to seek permission from parents whenever signing up to a social media account, downloading an app or even using search engines.

The law, due to be negotiated between member states on Tuesday, would cause a major headache for social media companies. Almost all major social media services, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Google, currently have a minimum age of 13, in compliance with European and American laws.

Once laws are agreed, they are due to be voted on by the European parliament's civil liberties, justice and home affairs committee on Thursday before being ratified by the parliament itself in the New Year. Countries would then have two years to implement the law. Failing to comply with the new legislation would mean fines of up to 4pc of a company's turnover - tens of millions of pounds for the biggest internet firms.

The proposed rule comes as part of a major overhaul of data protection laws designed to create a single set of rules for the European Union. It has been in the works for almost four years and will be debated by politicians on Tuesday before a vote on Thursday.

As I always say in regards to the EU, whether you like some EU laws or not it shouldn't affect the way you see our membership of the EU as it is the democratic and sovereignty argument that matters above all. Should the British parliament, which is accountable to us, be creating law or should Polish and Belgian third rate politicians be making this law for us in which we only have a tiny say in and which we're usually outvoted on?

Here's a question though for the ill-informed who will usually say "oh i'm voting in becuz the EU is about trade and we needz trade" ignoring the realities. If the EU really is just about trade then why is it legislating on internet usage for teenagers along with agriculture, fisheries, increasingly defence and immigration? That doesn't sound like a trade bloc to me it sounds like a superstate in the making.

Thoughts?

[CottonCandle]

It's pretty easy to get past. We all did when we wanted a Facebook account at 12.

I admit I'm ignorant about the EU, so I don't have much to say about the trade and all of that. I am a little worried for the possibility for parents to be able to isolate their children even longer than they already have the ability to. The Internet can be a wonderful place full of knowledge and healthy social interaction; things that, in my opinion, are severely lacking in young people's lives without it.

Of course, my opinions are based on growing up where beating your child black and blue is totally commonplace and a lot of young adults+ have serious social problems because their parents severely restricted their Internet usage and other social opportunities. From what I've heard, these things don't happen as frequently in the EU, but it's still something I'm worrying about with this.

[FlyingJesus]

Oh well we've all been pretending to be 18+ to get on websites since we were 11 anyway, it's not like you actually need to do anything other than tick a box. It's really just a way for there to be accountability for the online actions of middle-teens, which is currently hugely ambiguous

[e5]

The law is there now so I think it's decent to try and protect young people more. Age restrictions online mean nothing though - it didn't stop me signing up to a gambling site at 17