The father of the website asked to prohibit social networks for minors under 16 and targeted TikTok

Berners-Lee warned of “addictive algorithms” of some social networks, such as TikTokin a conference at the Talent Arena, the hall simultaneous to Mobile World Congress from Barcelona.

Although he said that he is satisfied with most of the evolution of the website, he acknowledged that there are some parts that he “they disappoint”referring to the networks they use “addictive algorithms”.

“There are social networks that have trained artificial intelligence within their systems to optimize them and keep people on your platform. These parts of the website are a problem,” he said.

He asked social media developers “not to design them like TikTok,” but rather as less addictive platforms, like Pinterest.

Thus, he welcomed the policies applied in Australia, which last December became one of the countries with the more punitive legislation and broad against the use of networks by minors under 16 years of age, with a formula that includes fines for technology companies and which has meant, almost two months later, the blocking of millions of accounts.

“I was in Australia and it was interesting talking to the kids, their ideas about the ban were quite nuanced. They were not opposed at all. “I think some of them found that having a world where they could actually play with their friends and without phones was quite rewarding,” he noted.

Despite this criticism of the networks, he stressed that he has hope in the future of the Internet, especially thanks to the internet user communities who continue working on open source projects.

In the midst of legal and social objections, the Ecuadorian Assembly began to analyze a prohibition for minors under 15 years of age access social networks through a legal reform that experts believe could restrict their rights.

The reform proposes including the prohibition in an article of the Code of Childhood and Adolescence in order to reduce the risks of “premature exposure to inappropriate content and cyberbullying situations.” He adds that in the country these complaints rose from 22 in 2014 to 124 in 2024 and affect the mental health of 53% of that population.

The proposal, which is analyzed in the Children’s Commission and should pass two debates to be approved in the Legislature, seeks for Ecuador to join the trend of countries like Australia that prohibit access to networks for minors under 16 years of age, while in other European and regional nations, such as Colombiais under analysis.

The official assembly member Katherine Pachecopromoter of the initiative, clarified that it seeks to reduce digital risks such as cyberbullying, hacking, identity theft and online sexual abuse (grooming). It also proposes sanctioning eventual non-compliance by companies providing digital platforms with fines of up to 5% of their local annual turnover.

A month ago, the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchezannounced that Spain also will prohibit access to social networks to minors under 16 years of age and will adopt other measures to increase control of digital platforms and ensure that their managers have to assume responsibility for infractions on their networks.