Europe is increasingly committed to “restricting” young people’s access to social media; after France and Spain, to name just a few of the most important, it is now Portugal’s turn to introduce measures in this regard.
The era of “free access” to social media for preteens is coming to an end in our country, following a parliamentary decision that puts Portugal at the forefront of European digital regulation.
What will change in practice for families?
On the initiative of the ruling party, PSD, the national Parliament has approved a ban on free access to social media for children under 16. Once the bill is published in the Diário da República (Official Gazette), access to these platforms will only be possible with the explicit consent of the parents or legal guardians of minors.
As is the case around the world, this measure is not just bureaucratic, but a direct response to growing concerns about issues such as mental health, cyberbullying, and early exposure to “addictive” algorithms.
Until now, the minimum legal age for accessing social media was 13, but with this change it rises to 16, which will mean:
- Blocking new registrations on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, or Snapchat, which will have to implement more accurate age verification methods;
- Parental authorization for young people between the ages of 13 and 15, with the opening of new accounts now requiring validation by parents, either through digital ID or other authentication mechanisms;
- Fines will be imposed on platforms, which will be responsible for finding technological solutions to monitor this access, under penalty of heavy fines in case of non-compliance.
The challenge of enforcement: how will it work?
This is one of the points in the bill that may raise the most questions for guardians; how can a social network based in the United States of America reliably verify that a user in Lisbon is actually 16 years old? There are some very effective solutions:
- Access via Digital Mobile Key, as a way of cross-referencing data with the Citizen Card;
- Artificial Intelligence systems that can analyze facial patterns to estimate the age of users;
- Making parents responsible for managing electronic devices
The impact on the daily lives of young Portuguese people
The WhatsApp messaging app was leftout of the legislation discussed in Parliament , simply because it is understood to be one of the most common means of communication between parents and children.
However, the law also involves other measures, which must be implemented by the platforms themselves, such as:
- Infinite scroll;
- Automatic playback of content;
- Strategies to prolong or furtherenhance the use of social media;
- Sending “non-essential”notifications at night.
Parliament believes that these measures will require a period of adjustment for young people and also for parents, who will now have a more active—and legal—role in the family’s digital life.