Age verification for social media platforms has been a long-debated subject.
Many apps continue to struggle today in terms of verifying the exact age of users, to try and keep those below the minimum age bracket away. This is why up to
nine different American states are rolling out more laws to ensure both Apple and Google realize the great responsibility resting on their shoulders.
In case you're wondering, that responsibility rests on the shoulders of developers today. With the latest change, it would be shifted to tech giants who need to verify the age before providing access to platforms having age restrictions.
The problem is usually applicable to several different social media apps that usually have a minimal age limit bracket of 13. It’s an approach promoted by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. So many platforms were accused of forcing teens to become addicted to the platforms. Therefore, they failed to take the right steps to make sure users met the respective age requirements.
The problem right now is that it’s becoming more and more of an issue as laws are trying to impose legal requirements for age. At the same time, some want to enforce parental control for using social media.
Right now, so many app developers need to ensure the right age requirements continue to be met. However, Meta did argue in 2023 that plenty of app stores do exist and are in better positions to carry on with this.
The company was able to lobby against a law in Louisiana that would force app stores to have greater responsibility for verifying user age. Now, many different American states want to propose something similar.
Several states including the likes of Utah and South Carolina recently put out bills that would force app-store owners to confirm the ages of users first and even attain parental consent before enabling minors to install platforms. Today, up to 60 different advocates for child safety are producing a new coalition to push for the passage of the laws around the country.
Before we saw states like Utah and South Carolina on the list but quite a few others were added including Alaska, Kentucky, South Dakota, New Mexico, West Virginia, Alabama, and Hawaii. They’ve all shared laws in the past several months and are aimed at the app stores.
There are several arguments in favor of the laws including apps to perform age verification that forces them to collect date of birth when a person registers to use social media platforms.
Many argue that privacy ends up being a risk for kids. Having both these tech giants in charge would mean less risk. They’re bound to serve as stronger protective entities when it comes to ensuring user safety.
The matter happens to be so much more practical for a few organizations like Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon. They always carry out the necessary checks and feature the right details on file for authentication and matters such as Family Sharing. This means the company also has signals indicating that some users are kids.
We’ve already seen that iOS 18.4 ensures age verification is an integral part of its setup. You need to select a certain age range of the user who uses this device. The iPhone maker shared how this data will assist with putting out the necessary parental controls and safety offerings.
While no verification of this kind of selection is done, it’s another battle altogether that Apple is currently in the right position to carry out such checks.
For now, Meta is trying to shun its responsibilities by putting the blame on app stores but they’re not wrong as the more privacy and protection, the better for users in the long run.
Image: DIW-Aigen
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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World
