Age Checks Aren't the Best Way to Keep Children Safe, Panelists Say
Age-verification tools are not a silver bullet that will protect children and young people on internet sites and social media platforms, speakers said Monday at a session of the European Dialogue on Internet Governance.
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The internet is a force for good in society for everyone, said the Internet Society Senior Advisor-Institutional Relations Tatiana Tropina. As such, age-verification tools aren't consistent with an open-border internet, and mandating them will actually make users -- minors and adults -- less secure, she said.
One key challenge of age certification involves privacy and security risks, said Tropina. Information collected via verification tools often involves government identification or face recognition, exposing users to platforms that store their information to security and data breaches, she said; and age checks can create a false sense of security. At a minimum, she added, tools should be independently audited for compliance with privacy and security laws.
The second challenge is that verification tools prevent people from accessing online services, Tropina said. Those who can't provide government IDs or financial information won't be able to use trustworthy services and will turn instead to the dark side of the web. Biometric tools don't work well with non-white skin and can be difficult for older people and those with medical issues, she said.
"The horse is out of the barn" on age-verification tools, but international standards are likely needed to address all the risks, said Tropina.
Verification tools promise a way to keep harmful content from children and force tech companies to recognize that children sometimes should be treated differently, said Natalie Tercova from the Internet Governance Forum, Czechia. It's useful to have some barriers, but age-assurance checks can't solve every issue, she said: Education, parenting strategies, digital literacy and platform design should also be considered.
Young people want a safe online environment and some see age verification as "creepy," said Niels Zagema, YouthDIG fellow and Dutch youth representative for European affairs, National Youth Council. He urged stakeholders to focus on education beyond the classroom to ensure that young people gain trust in the online environment as well as in verification tools.
Age verification directly affects how minors access online spaces, said Paulo Glowacki, a German European Registry for Internet Domains youth committee member. From the perspective of German youth, he said, the debate isn't just about protection but also freedom, participation and privacy.
Germany has a long history of age verification for gambling, pornography and other websites, Glowacki noted. Oversimplifying rules could result in gatekeeping, he added.
The General Data Protection Regulation pushes for age verification, but there's tension between how to protect the personal data of minors and everyone else and GDPR principles such as data minimization and privacy by design, said Zagema. At the same time, companies worry about what penalties they face if they get age verification wrong; and ethically, forcing teens constantly to prove their age could lead them to believe their privacy comes second, he said.
Asked about complementary and alternative approaches to age-verification tools, Gowacki recommended platform responsibility; parental/community involvement in regulation, education, dialogue with young people, parental controls and digital literacy; and youth participation in regulation development.
Technology should not be viewed as the means to solve societal problems but as a complement to other solutions, such as having websites label certain content to help parents block access, said Tropina. Responsibility lies not only with platforms but also with parents, she said.
What matters are the values society shares with children and whether kids trust adults when they encounter troubling content, said Tercova. Parents, schools and other institutions can help instill necessary values, she added.
Don't underestimate kids, said Tercova: They'll find their way around technology. Children have as much right to benefit from the internet as adults, so minimize the risks but let them get the most of the benefits.