Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

France’s global push for online child safety

France’s global push for online child safety

The French president launched the Children Online Protection Laboratory to shield minors from harmful internet content
French President Emmanuel Macron made the protection of children online one of his top priorities during his re-election campaign. He now wants to make France a global influencer on the issue. 

The Elysée Palace on Thursday announced the creation of a Children Online Protection Laboratory to improve safety for minors online across the world. The initiative aims to pull in campaigners, researchers and tech giants to figure out best practices on issues ranging from privacy to digital literacy.

Meta Platforms, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, TikTok and French platform Dailymotion agreed to sign a charter, modeled after the Christchurch Call, a non-binding initiative led after the 2019 Christchurch terror attacks by Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern aimed at curbing the spread of terrorist material on the internet. 

Child safety online is a hot-button issue in Europe, encompassing key digital angles such as privacy protection, the fight against cyberbullying, the proliferation of child sexual abuse material, age verification on adult websites and social networks, and mental well-being.

France's move comes amid a wider set of actions on child safety in the past few years, as both the French president and First Lady Brigitte Macron have pushed for reforms on the issue.

But while some of their efforts have proven successful, others have yielded mixed results: The country's flagship legislation aimed at preventing minors from accessing adult websites has so far not been entirely implemented by porn platforms, more than two years after it was voted through. 

Age verification online raises other issues, including privacy, and the rules are currently facing challenges in courts, as policymakers have left it to companies to come up with solutions on their own.

Emmanuel Macron has long used the Paris Peace Forum as a launching pad for international initiatives on technology and cyber. Last year, he launched, together with UNICEF, a call for action to defend children’s rights online.

In the first year, participants will work on developing a trusted third-party system to verify the age of Internet users; on AI technology to detect conversations where sexual predators pose as minors ; and the creation of a shared database among platforms to identify and remove non-consensual intimate images shared online. 


Age verification stalemate

It's unclear how the Laboratory's projects will interact with the flurry of child-protection rules adopted in France in the past few years, including a law to require smartphone and tablet manufacturers to give parents the option to control their children’s internet access and another to fight against cyberbullying at school. 

It's also unclear how it will work with the EU's draft regulation on the fight against child sexual abuse online, that Paris — unlike Berlin — backs in Brussels. 

Projects on age verification however could help France get out of the stalemate it's currently in when it comes to adult websites, as policymakers have long said that solutions should come from the industry. 

On the ground, however, the legislation requiring adult websites to verify their users' age is running into technical and legal obstacles, resulting in a legal tug-of-war between the audiovisual and platform regulator Arcom and porn websites. 

The next legal move will come from France's highest court — the Cour de Cassation —  which has until early January next year to decide whether to ask the Constitutional Council to assess the French age verification rules' compatibility with the Constitution.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Unelected PM of the UK holds an emergency meeting because a candidate got voted in… which he says is a threat to democracy…
Farmers break through police barriers in Brussels.
Ukraine Arrests Father-Son Duo In Lockbit Cybercrime Bust
US Offers $15 Million For Info On Leaders Of Cybercrime Group Lockbit
Apple warns against drying iPhones with rice
Alexei Navalny: UK sanctions Russian prison chiefs after activist's death
German economy is in 'troubled waters' - ministry
In a recent High Court hearing, the U.S. argued that Julian Assange endangered lives by releasing classified information.
Tucker Carlson says Boris Johnson wants "a million dollars, in Bitcoin or cash, from Tucker Carlson to talk about Ukraine.
Russia is rebuilding capacity to destabilize European countries, new UK report warns
EU Commission wants anti-drone defenses at Brussels HQ
Von der Leyen’s 2nd-term pitch: More military might, less climate talk
EU Investigates TikTok for Child Safety Concerns
EU Launches Probe Into TikTok Over Child Protection Under Digital Content Law
EU and UK Announce Joint Effort on Migration
Ministers Confirm Proposal to Prohibit Mobile Phone Usage in English Schools
Avdiivka - Symbol Of Ukrainian Resistance Now In Control Of Russian Troops
"Historic Step": Zelensky Signs Security Pact With Germany
"Historic Step": Zelensky Signs Security Pact With Germany
Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has died at the Arctic prison colony
Tucker Carlson grocery shopping in Russia. This is so interesting.
France and Germany Struggle to Align on European Defense Strategy
‘A lot higher than we expected’: Russian arms production worries Europe’s war planners
Greece Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage and Adoption Rights
Russia "Very Close" To Creating Cancer Vaccines, Says Vladimir Putin
Hungarian Foreign Minister: Europeans will lose Europe, the Union's policy must change drastically
Microsoft says it caught hackers from China, Russia and Iran using its AI tools
US Rejects Putin's Ceasefire Offer in Ukraine
The Dangers of Wildfire Smoke and Self-Protection Strategies
A Londoner has been arrested for expressing his Christian beliefs.
Chinese Women Favor AI Boyfriends Over Humans
Greece must address role in migrant vessel disaster that killed 600: Amnesty
Google pledges 25 million euros to boost AI skills in Europe
Hungarian President Katalin Novák Steps Down Amid Pardon Controversy
Activist crashes Hillary Clinton's speech, calls her a 'war criminal.'
In El Salvador, the 'Trump of Latin America' stuns the world with a speech slamming woke policing after winning a landslide election
Trudeau reacts to Putin's mention of Canadian Parliament applauding a former Ukrainian Nazi in his interview with Tucker Carlson.
The Spanish police blocked the farmers protest. So the farmers went out and moved the police car out of the way.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy fires top Ukraine army commander
Tucker Carlson's interview with Vladimir Putin raises EU concerns
Finnish Airline, Finnair, is voluntarily weighing passengers to better estimate flight cargo weight
Russia's Economy Expands by 3.6% Due to Increased Military Spending
Ukraine MPs Vote To Permit Use Of Dead Soldiers' Sperm
German Princess Becomes First Aristocrat To Pose Naked On Playboy Cover
UK’s King Charles III diagnosed with cancer
EU's Ursula von der Leyen Confronts Farmer Protests Amid Land Policy Debates
Distinguishing Between Harmful AI Media and Positive AI-Generated Content: A Crucial Challenge for the EU
Tucker Carlson explains why he interviewed Putin
Dutch farmers are still protesting in the Netherlands against the government, following the World Economic Forum's call for 'owning nothing.'
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stands up for European farmers and says, 'Brussels is suffocating European farmers.
×