Business Law Order
Student
Institution
Business Law Order
Social media platforms are not vetting users. Young people are joining the platforms without being required to state their age explicitly. As a result, underage persons sign up for the platforms and go-ahead to share their personal information contrary to law requirements. Instagram is a victim of massive underage registration. The platform allows anyone above the age of 13 to signup for Instagram, which is the legal age of users to create social media accounts. However, there is no way of verifying if the people who signup are 13 years and older. Besides, Instagram relies on users to report suspected cases of persons with accounts who are below 13 years. Unfortunately, such reliance has ramifications in that users are already exposed to the public.
Furthermore, users can switch their accounts to business profiles, thereby sharing their personal information to obtain user metrics. Privacy and safety concerns arise from making user profiles public. Dozens of accounts have exposed emails and phone numbers. Shockingly, users are undisturbed by the implications of having their information visible to the public. Considering the ramifications of privacy associated with the loophole, it would be appropriate for social media applications to close the gap.
I propose the vetting of users during signup. When new users register to social media platforms, there ought to be a way of verifying they are above the legal age stipulated by law. Perhaps, digital guardians can assist in verifying user age information when signing up. Children below the age of 16 years must signup under the supervision of their parents. That is, parents need to guarantee that the new signups are above 13 years. For persons older than 16 years, they can use government-issued identities to verify their ages.