Pellegrini Age Limit: West Ham Debate Explained

BRATISLAVA – Are we facing restrictions? The young rising generation does not know life without social networks, and many children today literally grow up in two worlds – the real one and the one that takes place on social networks. However, as their influence grows, there is more and more talk about whether it is appropriate for them. Australia was the first to take a drastic step when it set the limit for their use at 16 years. However, it is not the only one, similar considerations are also underway in other countries, Slovakia is no exception in this regard.

Most recently, President Peter Pellegrini opened the topic of limiting social networks, according to whom, given the real risks for children, it is time to open a professional discussion on limiting children’s access to social networks. “So that, following the model of developed countries, we start discussing at the professional university a possible ban on the use of social networks for children up to the age of 13, for example, and let’s say up to the age of 15 with the consent of the parents,” stated.

“You have seen what the new digital age is doing to young people – how much anxiety social networks create for them,” pointed out. “It’s a big topic, but I think that if we want to protect children from everything that devastates them, then it’s a big challenge for our political scene. I personally believe that it would be the right step,” added the president.

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Australia set the age limit at 16

Pellegrini expressed the idea at a time when the whole world is watching the case of Australia, where a new strict law regarding social networks will come into force on December 10. The Australians have set the minimum age at 16 and it applies to networks such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and the Twitch streaming service. Conversely, the law will not apply to websites such as Pinterest, LegoPlay and WhatsApp.

But Australia is not alone. The Danish government announced this month that the country will introduce a minimum age of 15 for access to social networks. However, parents will be given the option to allow their children to register on such platforms from the age of 13.

The move, according to the Danish government, is to better protect children and young people in a digital world where harmful content and commercial interests have too much influence on their daily lives and childhood, the Danish Ministry of Digitization said. According to him, children should be given more time for rest, play and personal development before they create profiles on networks associated with certain risks. The establishment of the age limit was preceded by an agreement of the left, right and center parties in the country. It is not yet clear when these plans will be fulfilled and specifically which social networks will be affected. The intention is to target them on the biggest platforms.

Denmark is among the first EU countries to take steps to restrict social media for children. When taking over the presidency of the EU Council in July, Copenhagen stated that it wanted to promote this issue throughout the Union.

The need for restrictions is also being discussed in the EU

The topic is also hot in France, where the prosecutor’s office there has started a criminal investigation into the TikTok social network for insufficient protection of children’s mental health. This is the first case where the effort to protect minors on social networks led to prosecution. This is a reaction to the results of the parliamentary commission’s investigation. She also recommends that children under the age of 15 in France should be completely banned from using social media. For persons between the ages of 15 and 18, a night-time “digital curfew” would apply and they would not have access to social networks between 10:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m.

The topic of the age limit for access to social networks is also being addressed at the level of the European Union. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said during the UN General Assembly in New York in September that many countries of the European Union “they believe it’s time for a ‘digital adulthood’ for access to social media. And I have to tell you, as a mother of seven and grandmother of five, we agree,” she added. Speaking alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, she also confirmed plans to create an EU commission that “will assess what steps make sense at European level”.

The restriction is also being discussed in Germany. A survey by the German Institute for Economic Research (IFO) showed that 85 percent of adults in Germany are in favor of restricting access to social media for under-16s. According to the DPA, it is surprising that half of the respondents aged 14 to 17 also supported such a move and would also support a law similar to the Australian one.