歐盟青少年網絡限制令惹惱硅谷巨頭

European teenagers face having to secure parental permission to join the likes of Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat before the age of 16, under new EU data protection proposals that are riling US technology companies.

按照新的歐盟數據保護提議，不到16歲的歐洲青少年必須先獲得父母同意才能加入Facebook、Instagram和Snapchat之類的平臺，這讓美國科技公司感到憤怒。

The new regulations would make it illegal for companies to handle data from anyone 15 years or younger without the consent of parents, potentially blowing a hole in the business models of social media companies that have relied on teenage users for rapid growth.

新法規將意味着，企業如果處理沒有徵得父母許可的15歲或以下青少年的數據，將構成非法行爲，潛在破壞依賴青少年用戶實現快速增長的社交媒體公司的商業模式。

A senior executive at one US tech group said: “This is a ban that will [require] millions of kids and teenagers to get permission from their parents to use internet services. That includes email accounts, social media platforms and downloading apps.”

美國某家科技公司的一名高管表示：“這項禁令將（要求）數以百萬計的兒童和青少年獲得父母的許可才能使用互聯網服務。它包括電子郵件賬戶、社交媒體平臺和下載應用。”

US tech groups are lobbying against the proposal — a last-minute amendment to rules on data protection which have been working their way through Brussels since 2012.

美國科技集團正遊說反對上述提議——該提議是對自2012年以來一直爭取在布魯塞爾獲得通過的數據保護法案的最後一刻修改。

A coalition including Google, Facebook and Twitter yesterday accused negotiators of rushing the amendment and not consulting child safety organisations. The ICT Coalition for Children Online said there had been no explanation for raising the age to 16, and pushed for it to remain at 13, saying it would only give incentives children between 13 and 16 to lie about their age and could restrict their access to important online support services.

包括谷歌(Google)、Facebook和Twitter在內的聯盟昨日指責談判者倉促提出修正內容，而沒有諮詢兒童安全組織。兒童在線信息和通信技術聯盟(ICT Coalition for Children Online)表示，相關方沒有對年齡上限提高至16歲做出任何解釋，並主張將限制依然保持在13歲。該聯盟表示，這隻會讓13歲至16歲的青少年在年齡上撒謊，並可能限制他們訪問重要的在線支持服務。

Alexander Whalen, senior policy manager of Digital Europe, a group that represents the tech industry in Brussels, said: “It is unreasonable to think that a child of 15 needs parental consent in every situation. These are last-minute changes”.

在布魯塞爾代表科技行業的組織——數字歐洲(Digital Europe)的高級政策主管亞歷山大維倫(Alexander Whalen)表示：“認爲一個15歲的孩子在每種情況下都需要父母許可是不合理的。這些是最後一刻才做出的修改。”

The amendment states that processing data of “a child below the age of 16 years shall only be lawful if and to the extent that such consent is given or authorised by the holder of parental responsibility over the child”. In previous drafts, this limit applied only to those 13 and under.

修正案規定，處理“16歲以下孩子的數據只有在對孩子擁有監護權的人同意或者授權的情況下才是合法的”。在早先的草案中，這種限制僅適用於13歲及以下的孩子們。

The final round of talks between the European Parliament and member states will start today, with legislators hoping to have a deal finalised by the end of the year. Teenagers brought up in the digital age tend to be early adopters of social networks, which use this as a sales pitch to lure advertisers, who fear they cannot reach a young audience that no longer watches much live TV. This has led to groups such as Snapchat, which lets users send pictures that disappear after a few seconds, being valued at $16bn earlier this year.

歐洲議會(European Parliament)和歐盟成員國之間的最後一輪談判將於今日開始，議員們希望在今年年底前敲定協議。在數字時代長大的青少年們往往是社交網絡的早期使用者——社交網絡把這一點當作一個賣點來吸引廣告商，後者擔心自己的廣告不能抵達年輕受衆，因爲他們不再看太多的直播電視。這讓Snapchat之類的公司達到了極高的估值。Snapchat允許用戶發送“閱後即焚”的圖片，今年早些時候估值高達160億美元。