Minors and social, first green light for Italian law expected by summer

The minimum age of access to social platforms set at 15, with the obligation of age verification 'ensuring a level of security appropriate to the risk' provided for by law and delegated to Agcom and Garante Privacy. The nullity of contracts stipulated by the under-15s and the protection of minors in those activities that may involve them, more or less directly, on social networks, such as those attributable to influencers. These are some of the contents of the proposed law to protect minors in the 'digital dimension'.

Endorsed by almost the entire parliamentary arch, the bill was presented in May 2024, through two substantially identical texts, in the Chamber of Deputies (Act 1863, first signatory Marianna Madia, PD) and in the Senate (Act 1136, first signatory Lavinia Mennuni, Fdi). This proposal - to which other texts of similar content have been joined - testifies to the will to regulate a relationship, that between minors and social media, which risks having serious consequences. Until now, however, the rules have not kept pace with the pace of development of technologies, nor with the evolutions of social platforms.

A first step towards the truth was taken by the Caivano decree law (123/2023), which banned minors from accessing pornographic content and required operators of such sites to verify the age of majority of users. The Authority for Communications Guarantees was entrusted with the development of the technical modalities and published them on 12 May. Within six months, the operators of sites and platforms must equip themselves with age verification systems in line with the indications, which could be modified to adapt them to the evolution of EU regulations.

The future of the new twin proposals also depends on European standards. Of the two, in fact, it is the one submitted to the Senate that has started the journey, with a round of hearings and amendment proposals. But in the process, Madia explains, there is the 'need for a European comparison: DG Connect is working on the implementation of the Digital service act (DSA) and a table has been set up to understand how to arrive at an age verification mechanism that cannot be circumvented, which is what happens today, due to the fact that the platforms have no responsibilities'. In any case, Madia hopes that 'the proposal will be approved at first reading in the Senate before the summer. We do not expect the law to resolve all the issues,' she continued, 'but that it will play a similar role to the one played by the Sirchia law in the fight against smoking: to give children, but above all parents, greater awareness of the risks of being on social networks'.

'We are in a hurry,' urges Mennuni, 'because the current lack of regulation is detrimental to minors. Interlocution with Brussels is essential to harmonise our regulations with those being studied in other European countries. The contacts have been in place for some time, but now we are at the most formal stage: the answers should arrive in the coming months. If everything goes well, the Italian law could be passed by the beginning of 2026'.