#24 Legislating Inside a Black Box: Child Protection in Digital Platforms w/ Sørine Vesth Rasmussen

This interview explores the complex challenges of protecting children in the digital age, focusing on platform design, legislation, and future strategies for safeguarding young users online, in a conversation with Sørine Vesth Rasmussen.We discussed a few developments surrounding child protection online. You can skip directly to any one of them through the links below: - Mark Zuckerberg recognising that Meta is in the ads business: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mark-zuckerberg-gives-orrin-hatch-quick-explainer-facebook-202404519.html.- Study showing that 50% of Danish children had their own social media profile before they turned the age of 10: https://bornsvilkar.dk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Rapport-engelsk-v2.pdf.- A report on how much social media makes for each Danish child: https://copenhageneconomics.com/publication/big-tech-revenue-children-denmark/.- The impact of social media use on children (i.e., on the development of their prefrontal cortex): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-63566-y. - The DSA Article 28 Guidelines on protection of minors: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/commission-publishes-guidelines-protection-minors. - The Spanish Government's proposal of a law to ban social media for minors below 16: https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/presidente/news/paginas/2026/20260203-world-governments-summit.aspx.- The EU announces new verification technology, such as digital wallets and ID scans: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/commission-sets-out-common-approach-eu-wide-age-verification-technologies.- Report showing that half of the content on large digital platforms has commercial intent: https://commission.europa.eu/publications/behavioural-study-advertising-and-marketing-practices-social-media_en. - Discussions on social media bans in Denmark (https://www.biometricupdate.com/202604/denmark-imposes-age-checks-to-restrict-social-media-to-kids-under-15), Greece (https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgx1x742x5o) and Portugal (https://www.euronews.com/next/2026/02/13/portugal-green-lights-restrictions-for-social-media-access-for-children-under-16). - The Jutland Declaration states that Member States want an age limit for social media: https://danish-presidency.consilium.europa.eu/en/news/eu-ministers-united-minors-must-be-protected-better-online/. - The Australian approach towards protecting children online: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/protecting-children-digital-age. To learn more about Dr. Alba Ribera Martínez and her research, we invite you to visit her website: https://www.albariberamartinez.com.She also writes, from time to time, in her newsletter, the DMA Agora, about the latest developments surrounding the European regulation: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7344021393451184128.