Cyprus to use Digital Citizen for social media age checks

Local childrensocial mediaTop News Cyprus to use Digital Citizen for social media age checks 2023 08 09t181651z 756152663 Rc2hk2aauvdl Rtrmadp 3 Usa Biden Socialmedia 1 Relevant News Cyprus to use Digital Citizen for social media age checks 17 September 2026 Erhurman: conditions for new 5+1 meeting “not yet met”, heads to New York September 23 17 September 2026 Cyprus ranks second globally on healthcare access satisfaction, survey finds 17 September 2026 newsroom 17 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Cyprus plans to use its Digital Citizen platform to verify the ages of social media users, while platforms will also be expected to check existing accounts once the new legislation comes into force, Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy Nikodemos Damianou said. The bill, which the government aims to submit to parliament in December, would set 15 as the minimum age for unrestricted access to social media and place responsibility on platforms to introduce age-verification systems. Damianou said Cyprus intends to incorporate the EU Age Verification Blueprint into Digital Citizen, describing it as the preferred technical solution for implementing the restrictions. “The regulation and the setting of the age limit is one aspect, as other countries are also doing, and another is implementing it properly on the platforms,” he said. “The platforms will have to implement appropriate mechanisms that recognise a person’s age and can prove that the person is above the age limit that is set, without storing other personal data.” He said the legislation would set out the specific responsibilities of social media platforms. Damianou said the platforms themselves would be responsible for introducing their own age-verification mechanisms and are expected to be given several months to adapt. During that period, he said, they would also be required to check the ages of existing users who had opened accounts before such systems were introduced. “Within this period, as in other national legislation we have seen, they will also be required to put their existing users through this age-verification check and make sure that existing users, who became users without these mechanisms, meet the age criterion,” he said. Damianou said implementation could not happen immediately and argued that collective action at EU level would exert greater pressure on platforms than action by individual member states. “This cannot happen from one day to the next and certainly the power of one country on its own is much less than the power Europe has collectively to tell platforms that they must implement these age-gating mechanisms, otherwise the provisions of the Digital Services Act are activated,” he said. He added that Cyprus was waiting to see the final form of the EU Kids Act announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday. Damianou said the European Commission’s proposed EU Age Verification Blueprint is being discussed and shaped with the participation of Cyprus, which intends to integrate it into Digital Citizen. “We believe that this will be the best possible solution for technically implementing the regulation. However, this will take time,” he said. He also said Cyprus was waiting to see how much flexibility the EU Kids Act would leave member states to set their own age thresholds or other national parameters. According to Damianou, a large number of EU member states have either begun preparing legislation or are discussing similar measures in their legislatures. He said the European Commission framework appeared to leave member states some room to determine national parameters. Damianou said the Commission’s proposal points towards restrictions on social media access according to age. He said the framework outlined by the European Commission President would provide no social media access for children up to the age of 13, restricted accounts for those aged 13 to 15, with limits on functions and access time, and special provisions for users aged 15 to 18 requiring platforms to display age-appropriate content. He described the framework as “complex for platforms to implement”. Damianou said the Cypriot bill is at an advanced stage and the government’s target remains to submit it to parliament in December. Before then, the government plans to hold a public consultation through the Citizen’s Voice platform and targeted consultations with organised groups. He said the Commissioner for Children’s Rights would also carry out an impact assessment to examine the scientific dimension of the issue. Damianou said those processes would run alongside preparation of the legislation and would be taken into account, together with any further measures clarified by the European Commission before the final bill is completed. He said the government had maintained its commitment, announced at the beginning of the year, to move ahead with age restrictions and put the issue on the agenda. Damianou added that the position of many EU member states had shifted significantly over the previous six months amid the rapid development of algorithms and addictive behaviour linked to social media use, with almost all of Europe now expressing an intention to move towards legislative regulation. (Information from Cyprus News Agency) Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Erhurman: conditions for new 5+1 meeting “not yet met”, heads to New York September 23 Cyprus ranks second globally on healthcare access satisfaction, survey finds Key prosecution witness completes lengthy testimony in Phedonos rape trial Civil Registry and Children’s Commissioner drove ID parent-name removal, minister says Christodoulides to address UN General Assembly, meet Guterres during New York visit ‘Europe and Canada are stronger together’: Carney pushes for deeper EU alliance EU Parliament backs tougher rules to protect children from social media risks Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.