The Ombudsman for Children\u2019s Office (OCO) has welcomed the new online age verification and parental control rules for video sharing platform providers being rolled out for children this week as a \u2018first step\u2019 toward keeping children safe online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However the OCO is urging Commisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n to monitor and examine the rollout of the new measures to ensure that children\u2019s rights online are respected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the online safety guidance materials state that a range of techniques can be considered as age assurance, such as providing identity documents, credit cards, cross-platform authentication and age estimation, an Commisi\u00fan has not specified which methods the various platforms should use. The OCO understands the technically challenges associated with age verification but would add that specific requirements would give us greater confidence that children\u2019s safety and rights online are being sufficiently protected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n