A Review of Age Verification Mechanisms for 10 Social Media Apps
Study details
| Year: | 2020 |
| Scope: | Multinational |
| Countries: | United Kingdom; Sweden; Slovenia; Netherlands; Norway; Luxembourg; Lithuania; Latvia; Italy; Ireland; Hungary; Germany; France; Denmark; Croatia; Belgium; Austria |
| Methodology: | Systematic review / Meta-analysis |
| Methods of data collection: | Textual / documentary / content analysis |
| Researched Groups: | Other |
| Other Researched Group: | Experts on evaluation of apps (stakeholders) |
| Funder: | CybersafeIreland |
| Funder Types: | NGO (Advocacy, Charity, Consumer organization) |
| Informed Consent: | No consent needed |
| Ethics: | Ethical considerations not mentioned |
Goals
"This study presents an analysis of the age verification mechanisms in place for 10 popular
social media apps used by children: Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, Viber, Skype, Facebook,
HouseParty, Discord, Messenger, WhatsApp. According to CyberSafeIreland, these are the
apps most used by younger children, including underage children, i.e. below the age of 13
which is defined as the minimum age for use of such services (16 years in the case of
WhatsApp)"