After almost a year of work, the committee of 50 experts that the Government turned to in search of guidelines to protect minors from the Internet environment now has its final report ready. The document, approved this Tuesday in the Council of Ministers and promoted by the Ministry of Youth and Children, recommends that boys and girls not be exposed to digital devices until they are three years old and discourages their use until they are six. There is also a commitment to analog mobile phones, if they have them, for adolescents under 16 – they do not allow access to the internet, only making calls – and parents are advised to limit their own use of devices in presence of the youngest boys and girls.
The measures are not only aimed at families. The committee urges that the devices marketed in Spain include a warning of the health risks that their use has on the development of children and adolescents and advances that the scope of self-regulation is “insufficient.” In the educational field, where tablets are increasingly common, experts propose doing a “verified review” of the applications that are used and urge the elimination of “immediate gratification systems.”
Depending on age
The report details recommendations based on age to promote “progressive access” to digital devices. Between three and six years of age, only exceptional use is considered to maintain “social or family contact or when determined by judicial resolution,” but always “in case of need, punctually and under the supervision of an adult.” Until the age of 12, “it is recommended to prioritize experiential and sports activities” and, if you decide to use a cell phone, do so in the presence of adults. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends zero screens for children under one year old and a maximum of one hour a day up to five.
In adolescence, the age group where the most problematic use and addiction problems are concentrated, experts encourage opting for analog phones until the age of 16 and “delaying the age of the first smart phone as much as possible.” If families decide to buy a mobile phone that allows Internet access, they should “use parental control to limit and monitor access to content and usage time.”
At the beginning of the year, the committee was tasked with making a precise diagnosis of the situation, through the compilation of studies already available in different fields, and after its analysis, developing a “road map” that would guide the Government in its actions. In the document, experts propose 107 measures in the short, medium and long term. 35 of them are already part of the draft law that the Council of Ministers approved in June to protect minors in digital environments, according to the Ministry of Youth and Children.
A law in progress
This was the legislative leg of a package of measures that was pending the verdict of the experts and that still has to develop a national strategy, work that will be carried out by the portfolio headed by Sira Rego (Sumar). “The rest of the proposals will be studied with a view to their possible incorporation in the processing of the text or through the corresponding initiatives,” they point out from Youth and Children.
If the rule goes ahead as proposed by the Executive, the Government will force manufacturers to include parental control systems on mobile phones, computers and televisions due to defects; It will raise the age necessary to open an account on social networks from 14 to 16 years old and will include new measures such as “removal penalties in the virtual environment” or the consideration of deepfakes as a crime. The objective is a “mesh” to respond to a very present aspect in the lives of children and adolescents that is “unstructured.”
Among other notable measures in the report, the request to “prohibit exposing minors” on the Internet “regardless of whether this activity generates economic income directly or indirectly” stands out. The committee urges to regulate the practice of sharenting with minors by content creators or influencers.
The committee that prepared the report is chaired by the vice president of the European Association for the Digital Transition, Ana Caballero. Children’s organizations (Uniced or Save the Children), the Spanish Association of Pediatrics, the Spanish Data Protection Agency and the State School Council have also participated.
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