Forum: Age assurance on social media platforms should lead to meaningful protection
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Since April 1, designated app stores in Singapore have been required to implement age assurance to prevent users under 18 from accessing age-inappropriate apps. As Singapore plans to extend age assurance to designated social media services, identifying a young user should lead to meaningful protection.
Once a platform determines that a user is under 18, the account should automatically operate in a standardised high-safety mode. Under this mode, accounts should be private by default, location sharing disabled and unsolicited messages from unknown accounts restricted. Stronger controls should also apply to sexual, violent, self-harm and other age-inappropriate content.
These safeguards should not be easily bypassed through borrowed adult login credentials. When an adult account is used on an unfamiliar or shared device to access age-restricted content, the platform could require additional confirmation from the registered account holder. Such checks should be risk-based, event-triggered and privacy-conscious. They should create reasonable friction against attempts to circumvent safeguards without subjecting every user to constant surveillance.
Age assurance should also follow strict data-minimisation principles. Platforms should collect only the information needed to determine the relevant age group. Verification information should not be used for advertising, profiling or unrelated commercial purposes.
Platforms could provide a simple dashboard showing which safeguards are active and alert account holders when important settings are changed or a login occurs on an unfamiliar device. Parents should not have to navigate complicated menus and inconsistent terminology across multiple applications.
Digital literacy remains important, but children should not bear the entire responsibility for protecting themselves online. The objective is not to exclude young people from the digital world, but to help them participate more safely.
Pang Chong Liu
