欧盟青少年网络限制令惹恼硅谷巨头

European teenagers face having to secure parental¹ permission to join the likes of Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat before the age of 16, under new EU data protection proposals that are riling US technology companies.

按照新的欧盟数据保护提议，不到16岁的欧洲青少年必须先获得父母同意才能加入Facebook、Instagram和Snapchat之类的平台，这让美国科技公司感到愤怒。

The new regulations would make it illegal for companies to handle data from anyone 15 years or younger without the consent of parents, potentially blowing a hole in the business models of social media companies that have relied on teenage users for rapid growth.

新法规将意味着，企业如果处理没有征得父母许可的15岁或以下青少年的数据，将构成非法行为，潜在破坏依赖青少年用户实现快速增长的社交媒体公司的商业模式。

A senior executive at one US tech group said: “This is a ban that will [require] millions of kids and teenagers to get permission from their parents to use internet services. That includes email accounts, social media platforms and downloading apps.”

美国某家科技公司的一名高管表示：“这项禁令将（要求）数以百万计的儿童和青少年获得父母的许可才能使用互联网服务。它包括电子邮件账户、社交媒体平台和下载应用。”

US tech groups are lobbying against the proposal — a last-minute amendment² to rules on data protection which have been working their way through Brussels since 2012.

美国科技集团正游说反对上述提议——该提议是对自2012年以来一直争取在布鲁塞尔获得通过的数据保护法案的最后一刻修改。

A coalition³ including Google, Facebook and Twitter yesterday accused negotiators of rushing the amendment and not consulting child safety organisations. The ICT Coalition for Children Online said there had been no explanation for raising the age to 16, and pushed for it to remain at 13, saying it would only give incentives⁴ children between 13 and 16 to lie about their age and could restrict their access to important online support services.

包括谷歌(Google)、Facebook和Twitter在内的联盟昨日指责谈判者仓促提出修正内容，而没有咨询儿童安全组织。儿童在线信息和通信技术联盟(ICT Coalition for Children Online)表示，相关方没有对年龄上限提高至16岁做出任何解释，并主张将限制依然保持在13岁。该联盟表示，这只会让13岁至16岁的青少年在年龄上撒谎，并可能限制他们访问重要的在线支持服务。

Alexander Whalen, senior policy manager of Digital Europe, a group that represents the tech industry in Brussels, said: “It is unreasonable⁵ to think that a child of 15 needs parental consent in every situation. These are last-minute changes”.

在布鲁塞尔代表科技行业的组织——数字欧洲(Digital Europe)的高级政策主管亚历山大维伦(Alexander Whalen)表示：“认为一个15岁的孩子在每种情况下都需要父母许可是不合理的。这些是最后一刻才做出的修改。”

The amendment states that processing data of “a child below the age of 16 years shall only be lawful⁶ if and to the extent that such consent is given or authorised by the holder⁷ of parental responsibility over the child”. In previous drafts, this limit applied⁸ only to those 13 and under.

修正案规定，处理“16岁以下孩子的数据只有在对孩子拥有监护权的人同意或者授权的情况下才是合法的”。在早先的草案中，这种限制仅适用于13岁及以下的孩子们。

The final round of talks between the European Parliament and member states will start today, with legislators hoping to have a deal finalised by the end of the year. Teenagers brought up in the digital age tend to be early adopters of social networks, which use this as a sales pitch to lure⁹ advertisers, who fear they cannot reach a young audience that no longer watches much live TV. This has led to groups such as Snapchat, which lets users send pictures that disappear after a few seconds, being valued at $16bn earlier this year.

欧洲议会(European Parliament)和欧盟成员国之间的最后一轮谈判将于今日开始，议员们希望在今年年底前敲定协议。在数字时代长大的青少年们往往是社交网络的早期使用者——社交网络把这一点当作一个卖点来吸引广告商，后者担心自己的广告不能抵达年轻受众，因为他们不再看太多的直播电视。这让Snapchat之类的公司达到了极高的估值。Snapchat允许用户发送“阅后即焚”的图片，今年早些时候估值高达160亿美元。