The tragedy of Palermo has opened the Pandora's box: the Privacy Guarantor now asks the account also to Facebook, Instagram and other social.
After the dramatic case of the little girl who died in Palermo as a result of a TikTok challenge, and the blocking of data processing for TikTok in cases where it is not possible to ascertain the age of the user, now the Privacy Guarantor asks the account also to Facebook and Instagram.
The young victim, just 10 years old, had more profiles on these two social networks. Also for Facebook and Instagram, however, there is the minimum age of 13 years old and, therefore, Facebook and Instagram had not verified the real age of the girl. Hence the opening of the file by the Guarantor for the protection of personal data, which asks the group of Zuckerberg "precise indications on the mode of enrollment in the two social and verifications of the user's age adopted to check compliance with the minimum age of enrollment". Facebook has 15 days to respond.
Minors and TikTok: what the Guarantor has decided
For Facebook and Instagram, therefore, a situation similar to that of TikTok is foreshadowed: if they do not prove to be able to verify the age of users, they could be ordered to block the processing of data.
This does not mean blocking the platform, but preventing the publication of new content by users whose age cannot be verified. It may seem like a small measure, but it's not: the Italian Privacy Guarantor, for the first time, puts down in black and white the concept that it's not enough to ask the user their age, but we must also find a way to verify it. And this way must be compatible with the GDPR, the European Regulation on Privacy.
The other social
The opening of the file on Facebook and Instagram is linked to the tragic event in Palermo. Since the first days, in fact, several press sources have verified that the girl had many social profiles that in theory she shouldn't have had.
The Guarantor, however, promises to go even beyond the Palermo event: "The verification of the Authority will be extended to other social networks, in particular with regard to how minors can access the platforms". This was the request of some consumer protection associations, such as Federconsumatori Sicilia, in the aftermath of the measure of blocking data from TikTok.