The debate on the defining “age of digital adulthood” in Europe is now at the heart of political processes in Brussels, with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Layen to openly support the initiative brought to the forefront by the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The issue was discussed extensively in New York as part of the “Protecting Children in the Digital Age” event organized by Australia during the high level of the 80th UN General Assembly.
Speaking to an international audience, Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed that “in Greece we are thinking of banning the use of social media from the age of 16 and below, as in Australia.” In fact, he revealed that he has already asked his team to work with the Australian authorities to consider how such a measure could be practically applied to Greece.
With the debate on the limits of digital freedom to be at the beginning, it seems that for the first time, Europe is ready to chart a common strategy, with Greece at the forefront of this new, difficult but necessary battle.
Mitsotakis’ marks
The prime minister described the intense problem, saying that “we do the greatest uncontrolled experiment ever done with the minds of our children. We do not know what the consequences will be, but we are almost certain that they will not be positive. ” He even referred to Jonathan Hyde’s “The Anxious Generation”, which – as he said – opened his eyes to the impact of social media on young people’s mental health.
The Greek Government has already taken steps in this direction, banning the use of mobile phones in schools and creating parco.gov.gr, a new tool on Gov.gr that provides parents with age verification when buying their child’s first phone and access to parental media control for social media. “This is just the first step,” Mitsotakis underlined, noting that the state is obliged to take more drastic measures.
A significant development is that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Laien, not only adopted concern, but also raised the issue on a European basis: “Many European Union countries believe that the time has come for a” age age “on social media access. And I have to tell you that, as a mother of seven children and grandmother of five grandchildren, I share their point of view, “he said from the UN General Assembly.
The EU Special Committee
Von der Liene has announced the creation of a special EU committee, which will evaluate what steps are meaningful at European level, paving the way for a coordinated European policy. Countries such as Greece, France and Denmark have already put pressure on defining a single “digital age adulthood”, arguing that uncontrolled use of social media causes serious damage to minors, from anxiety and depression to exposure to harmful content.
The support of the Commission’s chairman is considered crucial, as the matter until recently remained on the agenda of individual member states. Now, with the official ‘stamp’ of Brussels, there is a dynamic for European legislation, which will set a single age limits, as is already the case in Australia, which by the end of the year requires at least 16 years of age to create an account on certain social media.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, concluding his speech, addressed his European counterparts to dare: “We cannot rely on the difficulties of implementation as an excuse to do nothing. Technology companies have a lot of money. They do not have to take out more by exploiting the vulnerability of our children. ” At the same time, he warned of the next major danger: the interaction of children with artificial intelligence chatbots. “Do we really want our children to have digital friends who can lead them to destructive behaviors?” questioned.
The introduction of the common “digital adulthood” of the initiative, started by Athens and finds supporters in Paris and Copenhagen, seems to be evolving into a pan -European movement. The coming months will be critical to how the final proposal of the Commission will be formed and what will be the attitude of the other Member States.
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