Expert comment: Government to vote on under-16s social media ban in the UK

Expert comment from Clive Summerfield - CEO of FARx, the world’s only fused-biometrics company - on whether a ban is needed, how this would be implemented and whether social media platforms' current security systems do enough to effectively implement a ban. 

"Without accurate, continuous identity verification in place, such a ban can only be top level and is therefore doomed from the get-go.” 

"There is no question that social media in its current form is highly damaging to children and young people. The Online Safety Act, which came into force last July, requires any content sharing platform to remove harmful content from the feeds of children, such as pornography and material encouraging self-harm. However, unless platforms act on moderating this kind of content, then I think the Government, operating in the best interest of the public, has no option other than to ban social media for under 16-year-olds.

"The question, however, is not whether platforms should be restricted according to age, but how to enforce such a restriction. Whilst there are excellent technologies in place to estimate the age of the person logging on to the platform, these technologies don't currently tie a digital identity to a biometric identity, meaning they can't continuously verify that the person using the platform is who they say they are. Or, in other words, that the "adult" accessing the One Time Passcode or changing the parental controls isn't in fact their tech-savvy child who has figured out their password. This is a problem.

"Without accurate, continuous identity verification in place, such a ban can only be top level and is therefore doomed from the get-go. To implement a ban effectively, Government must require social media platforms to implement accurate, continuous biometric identity verification as part of regulations.”

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Editors notes

Based on over 30 years of consulting and technology research and development, FARx bring to the market new patented proprietary technology that is set to disrupt delivery of secure online services. Our scalable business and pricing model is setting the trend for mass adoption and industry standards.