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Brussels is preparing to give itself new powers to fine Big Tech for failing to protect consumers and especially children from online spending traps as part of a bigger push to boost social media safeguards, the EU’s top justice official has said.
The European Commission is due to announce a proposal to increase online consumer protection by the end of the year. It comes as the bloc also debates a social media ban for younger users, after hearing the verdict of an expert panel due on Monday.
“We have to make sure in the coming weeks that we have an overall coherent response to an issue that has really taken off . . . not just [in] political circles but I think among the general public,” said EU justice commissioner Michael McGrath.
A growing number of countries are looking at how to shield children from the harms of the internet, including social media.
The UK this month said under-16s would be banned from platforms like TikTok, Instagram or Snapchat, while some EU member states such as France have announced steps to restrict access on a national level. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has also spoken out in favour of such measures.
The Commission is set to propose by year-end new digital fairness rules that will tackle issues including the addictive design of websites and apps, subscription traps and other “dark patterns” that lure people into spending money. These could complement additional measures under consideration by Brussels to restrict access to social media for children.
“There’s no single silver bullet that will resolve all the issues and I think we will need a set of measures that are working together,” McGrath said. The digital fairness legislation is aimed at “addressing any remaining gaps in the area of consumer protection online” focusing particularly on young people, he said.
“Children can be particularly impressionable and vulnerable. So we think protections need to be strengthened in that area, especially . . . if there is an underlying commercial transaction there,” he said.
The Commission also wants to give itself the power to enforce these rules when it comes to “very large systemic cases that are cross-border in nature”. Under a separate upcoming proposal, it would have the power to fine platforms that violate consumer protection laws, including not only Big Tech companies already covered by the bloc’s digital legislation, but also smaller online traders or video game makers.
So far, member states are responsible for enforcing consumer protection rules, with co-ordination by the Commission. But McGrath said “that co-ordination has never led to a fine or penalty being imposed and it’s just not a sufficient deterrent to companies that want to flout our laws”.
The proposal is still being discussed inside the Commission, as some EU officials and some EU countries, such as Poland, argue there is too much overlap with existing digital legislation, such as the Digital Services Act, which polices content online for large platforms.
Outright social media bans for children, such as one implemented in Australia, have been contentious as they rely on age verification methods that can be circumvented, and which critics say raise serious privacy concerns.
McGrath said international experience on banning children from social media has so far been “inconclusive” and policymakers should not discount other measures, such as greater controls of websites and increasing digital literacy.
“You have at the one end, the option of seeking to ban children up to a certain age from being on social media. But at the other end, you have greater controls, addressing addictive design, changing default settings, making it easier for parents to exercise oversight and control,” he said.
McGrath said that it was also necessary to educate young people about the dangers online, and give them tools to protect themselves.
“There are many benefits to social media, to children being online. They connect with their friends . . . it’s going to be part of their lives long into the future and into adulthood, and we need to prepare them for that too.”
Additional reporting by Barbara Moens in Brussels
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