Mandatory Parental Control: When the State Disables Parents
The LREM deputy from Bas-Rhin Bruno Studer had to get up one morning like crazy, too happy with the idea he had just had: “Do you realize darling? It will probably be called the Studer law when we get it voted on with our friends! It’s Dede [son pote de squash, NDLR] which is going to be green! ». The rapporteur of the infamous “fake news” law has indeed a brilliant project: to impose on all manufacturers of devices that can connect to the Internet the establishment of a parental control device on their machines. Smartphones, tablets, computers, game consoles, connected TVs will therefore be concerned. And if Samsung, Apple, Sony, LG or Xiaomi do not comply, well, we will ban their product on the soil of the good king Saint Louis. The text will be debated by the deputies in the National Assembly on January 19 and 20, but the problems are already piling up.
Sellers of even second-hand phones or tablets must ensure that these products integrate parental control softwarehttps://t.co/YmUxvC0Pdp
Not just any: software that will meet the characteristics defined by a future decree 🇫🇷https://t.co/UE7WfTGKlo— marc rees (@reesmarc) January 14, 2022
A real problem, but a flawed solution
So of course, children are connected at an increasingly young age and it is a question of limiting their exposure to violent or pornographic content. Admittedly, less than half of parents use control systems, but is it really up to the State to put its grain of salt into this? Especially since if manufacturers are obliged to put a gas plant in their devices, parents are of course not obliged to put it in working order. Lax breeders who do not monitor their offspring are unlikely to do so with this type of software. And not just any software picked at random since it is the National Frequency Agency (ANFR) who will be responsible for checking that the on-board program meets the specifications and distributing the certificates of conformity.
A big mess to come…
According to Nono, manufacturers “will have to adapt their products at no additional cost”. As if Samsung and company were going to develop software specific to the French market at their own expense without passing on the price to the consumer… And even if they already have software of this type in the boxes, it will have to be installed in the system, instructions for use, after-sales service, etc. Take for example the case of Sony which markets all types of products concerned, how can the company easily achieve compliance on TVs, PCs and Android devices? And it’s not over since even second-hand products will be affected. How will the refurbished market be organised? Will old devices be able to run newer software? There is also the question of the space it takes on the storage unit. Will it be possible to uninstall the application or software?
Parents in PLS
And for the parents? The goal is to help them, but if it is necessary to configure a software on the TV, another on the smartphone and another on the console, they risk ticking the NO box of parental control as quickly as they tick the YES box. of any UGC. Finally, the bill is vague since this software will have to prevent access to content “likely to harm the moral or physical integrity of minors”. In “likely to undermine moral integrity”we agree that we can wear absolutely anything, right?
