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- After the death of a ten-year-old boy, probably during a test of bravery on the Internet, the Tiktok app came under heavy criticism in Italy.
- The Italian data protection authority has asked the company to block all accounts for which the age of users has not been determined with certainty.
- The video platform has until mid-February at the latest. The minimum age for Tiktok is 13 years old.
- Tiktok said they were reviewing the letter. Privacy and security have the highest priority, the Ansa news agency cited a statement.
In the Sicilian capital of Palermo, a ten-year-old girl died after a challenge (a kind of test of courage) that traveled through Tiktok. During the campaign, challengers record themselves with their mobile phones. The girl passed out during a test of courage because it blocked her airway. Later, doctors determined that he was brain dead. The judiciary and the protection of minors launched investigations.
Control is hardly feasible
The Italian data protection authority already reacted on Friday night and harshly criticized Tiktok. The Chinese app now has to block all accounts of users whose age has not been verified, the authority announced.
With the new regulation, Italy wants to ensure that users actually respect the minimum age of 13 years specified by the video service. It’s easy to sign up for the app and avoid the minimum age rule.
Given that Tiktok – like similar networks – currently can barely control the age of users, the order can even be interpreted as a total block, wrote the newspaper “La Repubblica”, citing the authority.
Demand for more youth media literacy
As social media use is booming at the Corona shutdown in Italy, waves of outrage continue to beat high this Saturday. Youth psychiatrist Stefano Vicari from Rome cautioned that there are good reasons why children under the age of twelve should not use cell phones alone. The networks alone are not to blame for the aggression against the body itself.
In the media, psychologists and youth experts are already calling for stricter legislation on how children use cell phones and social media be considered. Such challenges have existed on the Internet for years and in many countries. The challenges are sometimes fun, sometimes extremely dangerous.
