Australia has taken the first step to block minors from accessing social media sites, followed by Indonesia and a few months ago by France. Now five European Union (EU) countries have begun testing apps that verify users' ages before they can access certain content, according to the European Commission (EC).
Denmark, Greece, Italy, France and Spain are the first five EU countries to test an action plan for age verification apps to protect children online. The move comes after calls emerged for internet content to be monitored to ensure the safety and mental health of minors. The age verification apps follow the same technical specifications as the European Digital Identity Wallet, which will be launched next year.
France is the strongest country in supporting restrictions on access to certain content for minors following the incident of a 14-year-old stabbing a school staff member to death during a bag check before entering a school. Australia did so because it was aware that social media platforms did not seem serious about ensuring the safety of users who were exposed to dangerous trends and became prey to sexual predators.
In Malaysia, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil has stated the need for in-depth research into the psychological effects and differences in access to information between children and adolescents. At this point, the government has no intention of blocking access to social media for underage users.