07h09, the 2 May 2022
Armelle Le Bigot Macaux, President of the French Council of Associations for the Rights of the Child (Cofrade, which represents 50 child protection associations) and Thomas Rohmer, Director of the Observatory of Parenthood and Digital Education ( OPEN), pleads for “the temporary suspension of social networks” which, like Twitter, “do not respect the legislative texts for the protection of children”.
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Many studies show that most French children now have their own digital tools between the ages of 6 and 10, which leads to the arrival of younger and younger children on social networks. Thus, 28% of children aged 7 to 10 and 72% of 11-14 year olds visit them regularly and have 2.5 accounts there, according to our survey. OPEN-UNAF-IPSOS
. This frantic race for equipment and the resulting uses should challenge adults since a growing number of these children report having been exposed to shocking content: 40% of 7-10 year olds.
Whether it concerns sexuality or violence, all social networks are affected by the presence of content that is unsuitable for the age of some of their users. French children and adolescents spend most of their time on foreign platforms, the regulation of which is very complex. According to the law, children are not supposed to be present on these networks before the age of 13, and between the ages of 13 and 15 only with parental consent. However, the age of users is little or not controlled by the platforms – and even less by the authorities. Hiding behind their status as hosts, they deny any responsibility for any shocking, degrading or illegal content that their users may post.
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Twitter authorizes, under conditions, the publication of all other media, including pornographic
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Twitter’s terms of use, in particular, are surprising and even in total contravention of the child protection laws in force in France. If it prohibits “excessively bloody” content, Twitter authorizes, under conditions, the publication of all other media, including pornographic (“for adults”, according to the euphemism of the platform). In a few clicks, any child can thus be exposed to pornographic videos, sometimes of a zoophilic nature, and even to rape. He just has to ignore the warning presented by the site, without any control of his age.
Read also – Takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk: here is what it could change for the social network
A recent law obliges digital platforms to take all the necessary technical measures to ensure that no child can declare themselves of age in order to access pornographic content. A simple “I’m over 18” button is no longer enough. It is on this basis that our associations seized the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (ARCOM) to demand the blocking of 5 global pornographic sites. As such, it is blatant that Twitter does not comply with the law, and that it exposes itself to a potential suspension of its services in France if its conditions of use were brought to the attention of ARCOM. In the context of the acquisition of this platform and the announcements made by its buyer, we bet that child protection will not be sacrificed in the name of freedom of expression.
Faced with this situation, we demand:
- the temporary suspension of social networks that do not comply with child protection laws.
- the holding without delay of the States General concerning the regulation of social networks with the main prism of the protection of children.
Armelle Le Bigot Macaux, President of Cofrade
Thomas Rohmer, Founder and Director of OPEN (Observatory of Parenthood and Digital Education)
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