Prosecutors in Palermo are investigating that case, which
has led to increased scrutiny of children's use of social media platforms.
TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, first gained
popularity in Asia and now also has a big following in the West. It has become
hugely popular among teenagers in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Italian regulator, Garante della Privacy, said TikTok
had agreed to block all accounts in Italy from February 9, and to readmit only
users who provided a date of birth showing they were at least 13 years old.
A button will also be introduced into the app to enable
members to report users who appear to be under 13, TikTok's head of child
safety in Europe, Alexandra Evans, said in a statement.
Garante della Privacy said it reserved the right to verify
whether the proposed measures were effective.
"Such steps will not solve the issue," Guido
Scorza, a member of Garante's board, told Reuters. "But they can certainly
help in reducing the number of children under 13 using the app by giving
parents an additional chance to check whether their children are using
something they should not be using."
The regulator said TikTok had also agreed to evaluate using
artificial intelligence to detect under-age accounts.
"That means using data on profile activity - such as
interactions with other users or content uploads - to ascertain the age of
users," Scorza said.
TikTok will, however, have to discuss this proposal with the
Irish privacy authority, which is the European Union's lead data protection
authority for TikTok because the firm has its European head office in Ireland.
© Reuters
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment