Reference News Network, March 20 report: According to AFP, on March 17, Brazil began implementing new measures to restrict minors from using social media to prevent them from viewing violent or illegal content.
Last year, after a scandal involving the alleged sexual exploitation of minors on Instagram, a law regulating children's use of social media was passed and came into effect this week.
The country with 210 million people has now joined several other countries in seeking to protect children from addictive social media algorithms.
Some countries, such as Australia, have already banned children under 16 from using social media, while others require stricter age verification measures or parental consent when using social media.
In Brazil, teenagers under 16 must now link their accounts to a legal guardian's account.
Digital platforms are required to conduct "reliable" age verification to prevent those under 18 from accessing prohibited or inappropriate content, such as pornography or violent content.
A transition period will begin on the 17th, during which the National Data Protection Agency will outline the technical aspects of the law.
Mora said that the preferred method of verification at the moment is for users to upload identification documents and provide biometric photos for verification.
The law also requires digital platforms to delete content that appears to describe sexual exploitation or child abuse, and to notify Brazilian authorities.
Companies that fail to comply with the new regulations may face fines of up to 50 million reais (about 9.6 million U.S. dollars) and temporary suspension of their accounts. If they repeatedly fail to comply, they may be completely "shut down".
(Translation by Wang Qun)
Original source: toutiao.com/article/7619244673491599926/
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