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.
