The “challenges” offered on social media are symptomatic of the impact and strain they exert on platform users, especially younger ones. Some are entertaining (Planking, Ice Bucket Challenge), others more disturbing (Momo Challenge / Blackout Challenge). This summer, the “burn lines” challenge, which involves deliberately burning one’s skin in the sun to create tan lines, alarmed health professionals.
These practices reveal the difficulty of understanding and controlling social media use among young people, the consequences of which can be very serious. Which parents would have let their children or teenagers watch the humiliating videos of Jean Pormanove, the Kick influencer who recently died during a stream?
Digital Adolescents & Privacy: CNIL Report on Social Networks
The recent report “Digital Adolescents and Privacy, a Survey of Middle School Students and Their Parents” (CNIL 2025) prepared by Mehdi Arfaoui and Jennifer Elbaz is very instructive regarding the challenges linked to the conditions of their use of social networks and the protection of their privacy.
Find the link.
This report calls for increased support for minors, families, and professionals so that cybersecurity culture becomes a collective reflex. It reiterates the importance of identifying and understanding the constraints imposed by digital technology and the associated hyper-connectivity:
- feedback (likes, comments, sharing, private messages, and all associated notifications and push notifications);
- the social value placed on sharing one’s intimacy, blurring private and public life, has a greater impact on children and adolescents.
Social Networks & Protection of Minors: Law & Legal Risks
Learning to use social media is a gradual process, involving phases of exploration and trial and error, the control of which, particularly by parents, is essential. Ensuring a balance between autonomy and privacy in a secure environment is a major challenge.
These essential practices raise significant legal issues :
- The protection of children’s personal data, but also indirectly that of their parents and families (login IDs, passwords, photos and videos, banking information).
- Cybersecurity and the risk of cyberbullying, hacking, abusive surveillance, data theft, online blackmail, identity theft, etc.
