The centre right Partido Popular opposition party has registered more than fifty amendments to the government’s draft law on the protection of minors in the digital environment in Congress, including a ban on access to social media for children under 16 unless their parents give their express consent. Deputy Secretary Cuca Gamarra explained in a statement issued by the party that, with this package of amendments, they aim to ‘improve the protection of minors and help families,’ always in a “constructive” manner to ‘improve the government’s proposal’ and ‘ensure the safety of children and adolescents.’
Among the main measures, the PP has proposed banning children under the age of 16 from social media, with the exception of those between the ages of 14 and 16 who have the ‘express and verifiable’ consent of their parents, guardians or legal representatives. In addition, in the latter case, they have called for the establishment of a ‘digital break time’ for these minors, which would run from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.
To make all this possible, the PP has proposed obligations for digital platforms, which will have to have a visible content labelling system, control access to their services by minors, prevent and detect early content that may affect or endanger the health or integrity of minors, and implement mechanisms for anonymous and confidential reporting of cyberbullying or digital harassment, among other issues.
It will also be mandatory for parental controls to be pre-installed on the operating systems of devices with an internet connection and for basic training to be provided to parents on how to configure them at device points of sale. With its proposals, the PP has argued that it aims to provide families with more tools to protect minors, such as being able to access devices in a proportionate and respectful manner, or access geolocation data that will be blocked by digital platforms, except with the explicit and revocable consent of legal guardians.
The PP has also proposed updating legislation so that the Criminal Code can be applied in the new circumstances arising from social media. Thus, the PP’s amendments have called for prison sentences for anyone who generates, incorporates, sends, disseminates or distributes content that incites suicide or proposes viral challenges or eating practices that put the health of minors or people with disabilities at risk.
In response to the ‘numerous cases’ of school bullying, the PP has called for a reform of the law on criminal responsibility of minors to protect minors who are victims of harassment or bullying from their aggressors. These amendments would include a ban on offenders communicating with or accessing victims through digital media.
The party has also considered protecting minors from algorithms that could manipulate them, using their personal data or behaviour to alter their will through pressure or abusive persuasive design strategies, as well as measures against practices such as “infinite scrolling” or any other that generates addiction and dependence.