Internet access: the latest Democratic Party proposal includes restrictions for under-16s and a ban on profiling

Although it is a matter of great concern, the effective regulation of age verification for users accessing social media and the internet could well prove to be one of the unfinished business of this parliamentary term. Parliament is currently considering several bills aimed at effectively regulating minors’ access to the web, but at present the issue does not appear to be a priority for the majority. “Parliament is unable to break the deadlock on this crucial issue,” explains MP Stefano Vaccari (PD) to Parlamento 24, the lead signatory of a new bill on the matter, “but there is certainly also a cultural lag on our part as adults in our approach to the problem”, because “we are also the ones who design these digital platforms, and we do so to keep minors as firmly anchored to those platforms as possible”, “engaging” them as much as possible.

The ban on internet access for under-16s relies on efficient and effective age verification mechanisms, modelled on the measures taken in this regard in Prime Minister Sánchez’s Spain, because ‘a blue tick on platforms is not enough’, emphasises Vaccari. Operators must therefore implement tools and procedures to ensure the ban is effective for those under 16, with the possibility of an exemption for those aged 14 to 16 only if parents are guaranteed the ability to monitor their children’s use. Among the provisions of Vaccari’s bill is also a ban on digital platform operators profiling minors on social networks, because young people “cannot be treated in the same way as us adults as ordinary consumers, because they are in a phase of growth and development”, and ‘therefore cannot be “lured”: if you’ll pardon the term, because this does happen’.