Social media limits and privacy

Despite concern over France's Constitutional Council decision to block the country's social media ban for children under 15, the ruling should be seen as a technical setback addressing a structural flaw in the legislation, not a repudiation of the need to protect young people online. Though the court objected to the legislation's "disproportionate" infringement on expression and its vague privacy safeguards, it did not explicitly rule that age-based restrictions are inherently unconstitutional. Other countries planning similar bans - including the EU and several member states, and also Pakistan - should take note of this and craft their laws in ways that achieve the balance needed to meet these conditions.

The French court's primary grievance was the lack of clear limits on age-verification data collection - a flaw with a solution that could be implemented in no time - requiring robust privacy-preserving technologies, strict data retention caps and transparent oversight through independent audits. The EU should also feel minimal pain, even if it has to tweak its Digital Services Act, considering the bloc's long-running reputation for respecting personal rights. The most dangerous thing any country could do is give up on introducing or enforcing restrictions just because it would take legislators a few more hours to make their laws compliant with the relevant privacy and free speech rules.

As for Pakistani legislators, the fact that our privacy and free speech laws are already considered repressive will be an unexpected bonus - many national identity documents are already part of the public record, and the cultural lack of respect or understanding of data privacy means many people willingly offer up information that would require legal intervention in other countries. But while laws surrounding the issue may differ from country to country, the concern at the heart of the problem is universally the same - protecting kids from the horrors of social media. Countries may choose to work together or go their own way, but everyone must agree to bring in much stricter use limits than currently exist.