• One in four families in France experiences cyberbullying

• 'Our first reflex should be to remember that a child should never be left alone with a digital screen,' says general director of L'Enfant Bleu Association

PARIS

France has made it mandatory since 2023 for children under 15 to obtain parental consent to register on social media platforms, which are required to implement a system to verify whether that consent has been obtained.

According to data from the e-Enfance Association for the Protection of Children Online, 82% of minors are exposed to harmful content online, including drug and weapon sales and inappropriate photos and videos.

Additionally, social media use has led to increased incidents of exclusion and verbal harassment in schools.

The 2023 e-Enfance report states that 67% of children aged 8-10 and 86% of those aged 8-18 use social media in France.

One in four families in France also experiences cyberbullying.

Among the children subjected to cyberbullying, 51% face challenges in their education while 52% experience sleep disorders and appetite loss.

As the exposure of children to the internet and its risks rapidly increases, the government is taking steps to protect children's health and rights.

These measures include combating bullying and cyberbullying in schools, preventing children's access to inappropriate content, mandating age verification for certain sites and considering the mental health effects of harmful digital content on children.

Under a law enacted in France in 2023 to combat hate on social media, parental consent is required for children under 15 to register on these platforms.

The law also mandates that platforms create systems to verify users' ages and whether parental consent has been obtained.

French authorities can impose fines of up to 1% of global revenue on platforms that fail to comply with these rules.

In addition, parents can request platforms to suspend their 15-year-old children's social media accounts.

Laura Morin, general director of the L'Enfant Bleu Association, said that since 1989, her organization has been addressing the victimization of children exposed to all kinds of abuse, including physical, sexual and psychological and severe neglect.

Due to the inadequacy of legal regulations, parents and adults must exercise caution regarding the internet, she told Anadolu.

She highlighted the importance of raising awareness to encourage parents to take on the mission of guiding children.

Morin pointed out the many dangers on the internet, noting that parents often do not realize that sharing a photo of their child on social media is equivalent to distributing that photo to strangers on the street.

Children as young as eight can open social media accounts

Highlighting that children are vulnerable on the internet and can open social media accounts as young as eight, Morin said this situation poses risks akin to children wandering unprotected in the streets.

She noted that adults over a certain age can pose as children online, which children may find hard to discern.

This can lead to severe consequences such as abuse of trust and requests for nude photographs, she added.

Child abusers often gain children's trust by presenting themselves as "best friends, confidants or similar personas" and later make sexual demands, such as sending nude photos, Morin explained.

She added that girls and boys who fall into this trap gradually become entirely defenseless.

Morin also said that her organization raises awareness, supports parents against these dangers and helps them establish healthy communication with their children regarding the potential risks of the internet.

"Our first reflex should be to remember that a child should never be left alone with a digital screen," she said, likening phones, tablets and computers to a "window to the world."

Morin noted that they prepared a book titled "Emma's Toy Doll's Wild Adventures" to raise awareness among those who share children's photos on social media.

She emphasized that families should not rely solely on parental control software on electronic devices their children use and should not leave them alone with these devices.

"We must be careful; we know that children can sometimes figure out passwords and bypass restrictions," she said.

She noted that social media platforms are theoretically prohibited for children under 13, but in France, this age limit has been raised to 15.

By age 13, child has 1,300 photos online

Morin pointed out that children can circumvent this restriction by entering incorrect birthdates on platforms.

"As a result, there are very young children on social media; as I mentioned earlier, some even have accounts starting at age 8," she said.

She said that by the time a child turns 13, there are approximately 1,300 photos of them circulating online.

She stressed that families often do not realize that photos they share of their children on the internet cannot be easily erased.