Alcohol, cigarettes, getting behind a wheel of a car, signing up for military service. The law draws a line and sets a minimum age. Do you think it should do the same for social media, AI chatbots and certain addictive features of modern technology?
This is the core question posed in a government consultation, published today, about 'Growing up in the Online World'.
More specifically, it asks:
1. Should the law set a legal minimum age for accessing social media services? (eg 16)
2. At what age should it be lawful to process a child's personal data? For example, for the purposes of personalised advertising (currently, there is a requirement to obtain parental consent before processing the personal data of under 13s).
3. Should the law set a minimum age (and if so, what) for accessing the following features of digital technologies:
- Live streaming
- Sending nude images or videos
- Disappearing content
- Location sharing
- Connecting or talking to strangers
- Infinite scrolling
- Autoplay
- Affirmation features (eg 'likes' or comments)
- Alerts and push notifications Content recommendation algorithms
4. Should the law set daily screen time limits for children?
5. Should the law restrict access to certain forms of digital technology during the night time?
6. Should the law set a minimum age for accessing AI chatbots?
7. Should the law restrict children's access to certain features of AI chatbots, such as:
- Mimicking friendships/romantic relationships
- Engaging in and generating mature content (e.g. sexual/romantic role play)
The consultation also asks questions about how the sort of restrictions mentioned above might be implemented effectively in practice. For instance, should VPNs be age restricted, to prevent children using them to circumvent new digital minimum age requirements?
The final topic it addresses is:
8. Should we pass a law requiring schools to implement a policy that prohibits the use of mobile phones during the school day (subject to certain limited exceptions).
It will be interesting to see the outcome of the consultation and how this ultimately influences government policy and future legislation.
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