Although age thresholds vary across countries as regards the legal definition of “minor of age”, statistics confirm that in all parts of the world, children and adolescents are spending an increasing amount of time online. This Global Trends report provides an update on the most relevant legal and regulatory initiatives addressing children and adolescents’ protection.
Who is liable to protect children online?
The increasing calls for setting up effective protection of minors in the digital world have triggered new legal and policy debates. If minors are entitled to more protection against exposure to new types of risks and possible (physical, psychological or social) harms, who is liable to protect them?
Depending on jurisdictions, priorities and approaches on the protections needed for children online vary. Age thresholds also vary, even within the same country sometimes, depending on the type of online service and legal instrument used to define rights and liabilities.
New laws and approaches on the protection of children in the digital age
The report covers new legislative initiatives on the protection of children online in different parts of the world. Some initiatives address the “sharenting” phenomenon and the related challenges posed to children’s privacy and safety. Sharenting is about the sharing of children’s personal data, including pictures or videos, by parents, typically in a blog-like format on social media. Other initiatives aim to protect children’s right to be forgotten, or to prevent exposure to harmful content or different forms of online harassment.
Online age verification tools: new developments around the world
The report also considers different online age verification methods and tools and their use in different parts of the world. Age verification by online businesses based on digital identity systems poses privacy challenges. The report outlines new tests underway in some countries.
For more information and access to the report, please click on “Access the full content” - or on “Request Access”, in case you are not subscribed to our Global Trends service.
more news
15 October 26
Europe: national rules continue to shape cross-border IoT connectivity
Europe is often treated as a single market for IoT connectivity but, in practice, national rules on SIM registration, numbering and authorisation still differ between countries. Cullen International's latest benchmarks examine these rules across 31 European markets.
14 October 26
Regulators worldwide take several distinct approaches to legally defining communications apps, authorise their operation and govern their interoperability
Cullen International's latest Global Trends benchmark for communications apps regulation found diverse regulatory approaches to the legal definition, licensing and interoperability of number-independent communications apps. The benchmark addresses regulation of apps such as WhatsApp, WeChat and iMessage across 13 jurisdictions around the world.
13 October 26
Almost half of surveyed countries in the Americas have commercial D2D satellite services
Cullen International’s latest Benchmark compares the regulatory conditions for D2D satellite services using terrestrial IMT spectrum across 12 countries in the Americas.