Youth SNS restrictions, age and method... Prepare a plan for the first half of next year

Review of restrictions on subscriptions for those under 14 years of age and regulation of youth-customized recommendation functions

Fundamental rights and personal information protection issues... Cooperation with overseas platforms and prevention of bypassing subscriptions are also tasks

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Hyunmin Yoo = The government's regulatory discussions are in full swing regarding how far to restrict youth's use of social networking services (SNS).

Everything from restrictions on subscription for those under 14 years of age to regulations on features that can cause over-immersion, such as customized recommendations and infinite scrolling, are subject to review, but there are many issues surrounding the scope of protection and application method.

While President Lee Jae-myung ordered rapid discussion on the 3rd, the Korea Media and Communications Commission plans to prepare a response plan by the first half of next year through social public discussion.

The challenge is to guarantee access to information and personal information while maintaining the purpose of protecting youth, and to ensure the effectiveness of regulations on bypass subscriptions and overseas platforms.

◇ From subscription age to recommended functions… The government's plan to review

The key to the plan being reviewed by the government is not only to limit the age at which young people join SNS, but also to regulate the platform's service design and operation method.

In the presidential work report last July, the U.S. Visit Committee announced that it would review measures to restrict SNS subscriptions for those under the age of 14 and require age verification of users by revising the Information and Communications Network Act.

A measure to not provide features that can cause over-immersion, such as customized recommendation functions that analyze users' interests and usage history and infinite scrolling, to accounts for those under the age of 19 was also subject to review.

However, a plan was discussed to allow even those under the age of 14 to sign up if their parents consent, and to allow them to use some functions according to their parents' choice. This is a plan that considers both youth protection and parents’ choices regarding their children’s SNS use.

Kim Jong-cheol, chairman of the Korea-U.S. Unification Committee, appeared on a broadcast last July and said, “It is difficult to solve the problem through education alone, so minimal regulation is necessary.” At the same time, he emphasized that youth should be viewed as subjects of basic rights, not simply objects of protection, and that we must be cautious in taking a one-size-fits-all approach to regulation.

◇ Protection of basic rights and prevention of bypass registration… Securing effectiveness is key

Currently, 9 amendments to the law related to restrictions on youth use of SNS are pending in the National Assembly. The Visiting United States Unification Committee plans to support legislative discussions on related bills along with public deliberation work that collects opinions from all walks of life.

At the Cabinet meeting on this day, Chairman Kim mentioned the past experience of hastily introducing and failing to implement a game shutdown system and said, "We need to carefully formulate a customized and step-by-step response plan based on widespread social consensus."

President Lee mentioned that a public opinion poll on this day showed that nearly 80% agreed with the need to limit youth use of social media. However, the Korea-U.S. Unification Committee explained that additional discussions are needed on specifically what level of restrictions should be applied to which age group and in what manner.

The issue is the balance between the effectiveness of regulations and concerns about infringement on fundamental rights.

Mandating age verification requires a means of verifying the user's actual age, but controversy over personal information infringement may arise during the authentication process. Another challenge is whether we can get cooperation from overseas platforms and prevent bypass sign-ups.

The issue of restricting service functions such as customized recommendations and infinite scrolling is also the extent to which the platform's autonomy, freedom of expression, and youth's right to access information will be guaranteed. The method of reflecting the opinions of youth in policy design is also an area that requires discussion.

An official from the Korea-U.S. Unification Committee said, "We will discuss in depth the necessity and detailed methods of restricting youth use of SNS, while working with relevant ministries to collect opinions from various stakeholders. We plan to prepare a reasonable response plan based on social consensus that youth can also accept."