Austria is planning to introduce a new law to prevent children below the age of 14 from accessing social media, one of the latest as governments seek to protect children’s welfare by cracking down on addictive algorithms and damaging content.
“We will no longer stand by and watch as these platforms make our children addicted and, in many cases, ill,” says Vice Chancellor and Media Minister Andreas Babler.
Although the government still backs the goal of EU-wide regulation, this could still take some time, Babler says, so the government is going to introduce its own social media ban sooner.
The coalition of the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and the liberal Neos does not plan to draw up a list of banned platforms and apps. Instead, the age restriction will apply generally to platforms with certain characteristics.
These include, for example, algorithms that are addictive or increase online usage time, or applications that expose children to sexualized violence.
To implement the social media ban, Austria plans a two-stage online age verification system in which no personal data will be shared. The government intends to draft legislation for the planned measures by the end of June.
In addition, the government is also expanding teaching of online media literacy and artificial intelligence in schools. To make room for these, lessons in Latin and foreign languages are to be slightly reduced.
Last week, EU leaders reaffirmed their intention to press ahead with an age limit for online platforms including TikTok and Instagram.
The member states are calling on the European Commission to enforce the Digital Services Act and the associated guidelines for the protection of minors. The latter is considered the most likely route to introducing an effective age limit for platforms.
Austria says it backs the goal of EU-wide regulation, but as this could still take some time, the government is going to introduce its own social media ban sooner. Arne Dedert/dpa