Unsurprisingly, Europe is embracing digital “Big Brother” by requiring verification that you aren’t a minor to use social media, or as they might call it in France, “Grand Frère Électronique”, where the French Parliament passed an act to do just that.
“On July 21st, Parliament gave final approval to the bill introducing a minimum age for accessing social media in France. The legislation establishes the principle of a ban on social media for those under the age of 15. Platforms will now be required to verify the age of their users before they open or maintain an account, using a ‘double anonymity’ verification system. Users will have to prove their age to a trusted third party, which will issue a cryptographic token certifying only that they are of legal age in relation to the set threshold, without disclosing their identity to the platform. The implementation schedule is phased: from September 2026 for new accounts, then from January 2027 for existing accounts.
“However, many observers doubt that this law will actually come into force under the announced conditions. The Act of July 7, 2023 on the digital age of majority already provided for mandatory age verification of users and penalties for non-compliant platforms, before being blocked due to a lack of implementing decrees and because of its incompatibility with the European Digital Services Act.
“The Senate’s rapporteur for the bill explained that its future implementation would depend “almost exclusively on the European Commission.” Once again, it is Brussels that will have the final say on the legal and technical details of online identity verification. On an issue as sensitive as the identification of internet users, France is thus effectively accepting a further curtailment of its sovereignty.”
So not only are they requiring permission to use social media, but are handing over this power to unelected Eurocrats.
