BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 5. Amendments
regulating children's registration on social media platforms have
been approved in Azerbaijan.
In this regard, President Ilham Aliyev approved the law on
amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses, the laws "On
information, informatization and information protection" and "On
protection of children from harmful information". The law text has
been published on his official website.
13-4.1. Individuals under the age of 16 will not be allowed to
create personal digital accounts on social media platforms. The
list of platforms subject to the age restriction will be determined
by the body (institution) designated by the relevant executive
authority.
13-4.2. Platform providers must ensure age verification during
the creation of a personal digital account by applying the
following technical methods in sequence:
- requiring users to declare their age;
- verifying the declared age and, for children aged 16–18,
obtaining the consent of their legal representative by requesting
information linked to a bank card, email address, and mobile phone
number.
13-4.3. Based on the above information, the provider will verify
the declared age by sending verification requests to the email
address and mobile phone number of the individual and, where
applicable, the legal representative of a child aged 16–18, as well
as by charging a small amount to the linked bank card, subject to
reimbursement.
13-4.4. Providers may, with the consent of the body
(institution) designated by the relevant executive authority, use
additional technical methods not specified in Article 13-4.2 to
determine a user's age, provided such methods do not restrict human
and civil rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and
laws of Azerbaijan and comply with legislation on consumer
protection, state secrets, personal data protection, and
information security.
13-4.5. If the verification conducted using the technical
methods provided for in 13-4.2 and 13-4.4 determines that the user
is 16 years of age or older, the creation of an individual digital
account will be provided.
13-4.6. Scope of content and advertisements to be placed by the
provider in the personal digital account of a child aged 16-18, as
well as the hours of his or her use of the platform, will be
controlled by the child's legal representative. Provider must
ensure the necessary functionality on the platform to implement
such control. Legal representatives will be responsible for
actively supervising such accounts and ensuring that children use
social media platforms in accordance with the law.
13-4.7. Provider must continuously analyze user activity and, if
there are reasonable doubts about a user's declared age, carry out
repeated age verification in accordance with 13-4.2 and 13-4.4. If
a violation of the age requirement is detected, access to the
personal digital account must be restricted immediately. The
management of restricted accounts will be governed by the
platforms' internal rules.
13-4.8. Provider may not take the following actions regarding
the personal data it collects for the purpose of verifying the
user's age:
- store them in their own information system or transfer them to
third parties; - use them for commercial, targeted advertising (aimed at a
specific user) or other purposes, except for age verification.
13-4.9. Provider must ensure the deletion of the collected
personal data immediately after the completion of the verification
process specified in 13-4.8.
13-4.10. Provider must ensure the deletion of information,
shared content, and personal data posted by a person with a
personal digital account before reaching adulthood, upon the
request of the person, their legal representative if they have not
reached adulthood, or the body (institution) designated by the
relevant executive authority, as well as on its own initiative in
cases specified in its internal rules.
13-4.11. Providers must implement the following technical and
security measures for the accounts of users aged 16–18:
- enabling a safe-use mode and enhanced privacy settings at the
user's choice; - applying default privacy settings to all personal digital
accounts and restricting access to, including public disclosure of,
geolocation data; - preventing the distribution of content, information, and
advertisements that may harm children's physical or mental health
or cause addiction, and prohibiting the use of manipulative design
features such as infinite scrolling and automatic video
playback; - preventing the publication of information listed in article 4.2
of the law "On protection of children from harmful
information".
13-4.12. Provider must implement digital solutions operating on
a continuous basis and capable of rapid intervention to prevent the
spread of harmful content that threatens the life, health, sexual
integrity, honor, dignity, and other legally protected rights and
freedoms of users aged 16–18. Technical intervention must take
place within no more than 24 hours after such content is
detected.
13-4.13. Provider must submit annual reports by January 15 of
the following year to the body (institution) designated by the
relevant executive authority. The reports must include information
on compliance with the requirements of Articles 13-4.10 and
13-4.11, as well as statistics on refused applications to create
personal digital accounts.
13-4.14. Bodies (institutions) designated by the relevant
executive authority must conduct regular public awareness campaigns
on the lawful use of social media platforms, the protection of
children's rights while using them, and safeguarding children from
harmful content.
The law will enter into force 12 months after its
publication.
Before the law takes effect, providers must establish the
technical capabilities necessary to implement digital
age-verification solutions on social media platforms subject to age
restrictions, including for personal digital accounts created on
those platforms, and notify the body (institution) designated by
the relevant executive authority.
After this law enters into force, providers must ensure the
restriction of access to existing personal digital accounts
belonging to children under the age of 16 and, if information
confirming that the person has reached the age of 16 is not
provided, ensure the deletion of such accounts and their personal
data, and notify the body (institution) designated by the relevant
executive authority.
