Midlands North West MEP Nina Carberry has welcomed the European Parliament’s overwhelming support for her proposal to create a robust, EU-wide age verification system to protect children online.
The backing follows a Parliament vote on a report setting out new measures to make online services safer for children, to which Ms Carberry tabled several key amendments.
Today, the report was passed with 483 votes in favour and calls for a ban on harmful and addictive social media practices targeted at children, including ‘infinite scroll’.
Ms Carberry said: “Today’s vote is a massive step in the right direction, putting safety above all else when it comes to our children using the internet and social media.”
Carberry, a member of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Children’s Rights added that, “we must ensure that the EU’s digital rules are properly enforced. Social media companies have failed to self-regulate for far too long.
“Without a proper, privacy respecting age verification system in place, our children can be far too easily exposed to pornography and other harmful content, promoting self-harm or cyberbullying.
“The key gap now, is the implementation of a full EU-wide age verification system for children and teenagers accessing social media and adult content”.
