The European Tech Alliance (EUTA) supports the ambition behind the European Commission’s KIDS Act proposal presented today. The online experience for users of all ages should be safe and rewarding, and children are entitled to additional safeguards.
For European tech companies, built in Europe and run from Europe, European citizens and families are our first users, and our commitment to them runs deep. EUTA members are committed to ensuring that the time their users spend on them is time well spent.
Not every online service carries the same risk for minors, so the rules shouldn’t treat them the same way. A one-size-fits-all approach ignores how varied the internet really is, and risks locking both kids and adults out of safe and low-risk services for no good reason. It also penalises those services which develop more enriching and safer products for their users.
New rules will only be as good as their enforcement. Every minor in the European Union should benefit from the same standard of protection, whatever Member State they live in. Anything less creates tiers of child protection in Europe. Consistency also allows digital services to build one product for the whole Single Market, which aligns with Europe’s competitiveness agenda.
Today’s initiative cannot be seen in isolation. It should build on and work with the frameworks already in place, in particular the Digital Services Act’s Guidelines for minors online.
Avoiding a patchwork of diverging measures will make the protections clearer for families and quicker to take effect.
The following can be attributed to EUTA’s Policy Officer, Guénolé Carré:
“Protecting children online isn’t optional, it’s essential. Every online service is different, so the safeguards should match the actual risk they carry. That’s how we give every child in Europe an experience that’s appropriate for their age.”
The following can be attributed to EUTA’s Secretary General, Victoria de Posson:
“Europe has an opportunity to set the global standard on child safety online, and the ambition shown today is the right one. What will decide its success is enforcement that is consistent from one Member State to the next, and rules that connect to what already exists.”
EUTA will now examine the details of the proposal and look forward to contributing to the discussions with the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council.
About the European Tech Alliance
EUTA represents leading European tech companies that provide innovative products and services to more than one billion users. Our 40 EUTA member companies from 16 European countries are popular and have earned the trust of consumers. As companies born and bred in Europe, for whom the EU is a crucial market, we have a deep commitment to European citizens and values.
With the right conditions, our companies can strengthen Europe’s resilience and technological autonomy, protect and empower users online, and promote Europe’s values of transparency, rule of law and innovation to the rest of the world.
The EUTA calls for boosting Europe’s tech competitiveness by having an ambitious EU tech strategy to overcome growth obstacles, making a political commitment to clear, targeted and risk-based rules, and enforcing rules consistently to match the globalised market we are in.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Victoria de Posson, EUTA Secretary General
E-mail: victoria@eutechalliance.eu
E-mail: info@eutechalliance.eu
Phone: +32 476 25 08 16
www.eutechalliance.eu
