There’s been a lot written in the popular press about children accessing social media platforms and pornography, and about the need for these platforms to carry out some form of age verification.
There’s also the wider question of whether underage children should have certain features throttled back on their smartphones, or whether they should be allowed to use these devices in exactly the same way as adults.
I do agree that social media platforms and websites have a responsibility to be more vigilant when it comes to protecting children. That feels obvious enough.
But I do wonder if we’re missing a trick with the devices themselves.
Surely it can’t be too difficult for age verification to happen on the phone itself, tied to the device and the person using it. The phone could then carry that age status with it and decide which sites, apps, and platforms it is allowed to connect to, or which features should be restricted.
That wouldn’t mean social media companies, adult sites, app stores, or messaging platforms get to wash their hands of the issue. They still have a role to play in keeping children safe.
But device-level age verification could add another layer of protection around the content children see, the messages they receive, and the platforms they can access.
I’m sure there are privacy, security, and practical issues I haven’t thought through yet. There probably always are with this kind of thing.
But as a seed of an idea, I think it’s worth looking into.
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