EN Official Journal of the European Union C 351/31

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Responsible use of social networks and the prevention of related problems’ (own-initiative opinion)

2012/C 351/07

Rapporteur: Bernardo HERNÁNDEZ BATALLER

On 19 January 2012 the European Economic and Social Committee decided to draw up an own-initiative opinion, under Rule 29(2) of its Rules of Procedure, on the

Responsible use of social networks and the prevention of related problems.

The Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 6 September 2012.

At its 483rd plenary session, held on 18 and 19 September 2012 (meeting of 19 September), the European Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 173 votes to 1 with 6 abstentions.

1. Conclusions and recommendations

1.1 Due to the personal and societal impact of social networks and their future development and consequences, the EU institutions need to prioritise the adoption of binding and non-binding supranational measures leading to self-regulation or, preferably, co-regulation, in line with the Digital Agenda, to foster responsible and intelligent use within a dynamic Digital Single Market and to prevent the problems associated with its inherent risks. The EESC believes the ideal situation would be to have "model laws" on which to base international regulation. However, until this becomes possible, we need to find an EU-level solution.

1.2 Should measures leading to self-regulation or co-regulation be adopted, they would have to be temporary and their application would have to be evaluated at regular intervals, and if they are not applied, binding measures should be adopted.

1.3 In practical terms, the EESC urges the Commission to incorporate awareness-raising and educational campaigns in the promotion of digital literacy, primarily for the most vulnerable groups, in order to prevent or mitigate the unwanted effects of using social networks inappropriately. There should also be specific courses on parental supervision and mediation to reinforce reporting points for illegal content online (hotlines) so that they can also address this inappropriate use of networks.

1.4 In order to enhance these initiatives, spreading good practice among providers in meeting their obligations has to be combined with advertisement control or the monitoring of users' very early access at a very young age, which together could help eradicate a negative perception of social networks and, at the same time, draw attention to their potential opportunities and synergies. There is also the issue of addiction to social networks; users should be made aware of this, and parents of young adolescents - who are the group most at risk - should be warned.

1.5 The right to privacy needs to be protected in the face of intrusions into people's private lives in the context of labour relations and the use of new technologies, especially social networks, with the social partners regulating the matter in the relevant agreements.

1.6 Finally, the EESC reiterates (1) that it looks forward to the publication of a Code of EU Online Rights that summarises existing digital user rights in the EU in a clear and accessible way and focuses on promoting the responsible use of networks, preventing related behavioural problems and eradicating practices that can be considered as unfair or harmful, especially with regard to hyper-contextualised advertising.

2. Introduction

2.1 This own-initiative opinion serves three objectives: a) To build on earlier studies, Communications (Communication on future networks and the internet (SEC(2008) 2507)(SEC(2008) 2516)) and opinions (2); b) To showcase the self-regulation agreement on Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU (10 February 2009); c) To suggest action to be taken within the framework of the Digital Agenda for Europe (COM(2010) 245 final/2).

2.2 The overall growth of the digital society, experienced in recent years, and the more specific ongoing growth of virtual communities have highlighted the need to adopt policies for promoting the responsible use of social networks, not to mention preventive policies and policies that provide protection against related risks and problems.

2.3 The ongoing development and spatial spread which have characterised social networks since their inception force us to continually redefine the concept and, as a result, how to approach it. Nevertheless, it is possible to agree on a number of basic and key characteristics in order to identify the relevant areas for action.

2.4 In this context, we can consider that social networks, as forms of voluntary social interaction in a complex situation, are fuelled by dynamic exchange in an open positive feedback system.

2.5 Consequently, the wide variety of social networks and their uses, not to mention their users and content, has resulted in an emerging and ongoing process that involves establishing precise rules about the way they function. This is why it would be useful to carry out periodic fieldwork on this issue and to find out more about users' membership of one or more specific networks, which would also provide guidance for technology-neutral rules which are needed in a process of flexibility that can adapt to this field.

2.6 Furthermore, the actions advocated in this opinion contribute to the EU objective of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth under the Europe 2020 Strategy (COM(2010) 2020). As a result, we need to incorporate within the concept of social networks, the knowledge society, crowd-sourcing, the promotion of more active and responsible users, and an efficient virtual market, or the collaborative spirit and social integration.

2.7 More specifically, not only do we need to improve infrastructure to ensure high-speed, safe and non-discriminatory access, which excludes nobody, by promoting responsible digital citizenship, but also to secure the effective exercise of rights for citizens in the digital environment (freedom of expression and information, protection of personal data and privacy, requirements for transparency and universal telephone and functional internet services and a minimum quality of service) (COM(2010) 245 final/2).

2.8 Privacy is a vital aspect of social network use. The EESC has already presented its views on the proposal for a General Data Protection Regulation, stating its unequivocal support for the right to be forgotten and the preservation of privacy by default, i.e. consent cannot be implied, it must always be given expressly or explicitly.

2.9 Default security and privacy standards must be established for internet search engines, in order to ensure that their profiles are not indexed and that very sensitive data is protected.

2.10 Furthermore, the market must be better managed in this sector, with respect both to the integration of providers and to compliance with concrete and binding measures concerning their practices, including those relating to advertisement control, use of available data or the generation of related business opportunities (e.g. risk insurance policies covering the rights of social network users).

2.11 Nevertheless, in a context of shared responsibility users must respect the instructions and guidelines put forward by the relevant institutions concerning the intelligent and responsible use of social networks ("users' social responsibility"). This makes it possible to optimise available resources and enhance the advantages offered in terms of information dissemination and transparency in a framework for cooperation that fosters learning and multicultural enrichment, and going far beyond the objectives of each network. However, legality is sometimes established on the basis of a mistaken assumption that users are informed and aware, when statistics show that in reality barely one in a thousand users read the conditions.

3. Ongoing social network growth

3.1 The development of social networks has accelerated in recent years, resulting in a spectacular rise in the number of users. In 2010, the total number of users worldwide was believed to have reached one billion (23 % higher than the year before), most of whom were young. Country-by-country data on social network coefficients can be consulted via the world maps of social networks created for this purpose.

3.2 The proportion of young social network users far outstrips users from other age groups. In Europe, according to Eurostat, 80 % of internet users aged 16 to 24 used the internet for this purpose in 2010, compared with 40 % aged 25 to 54, and under 20 % aged 55 to 74 (see the Commission's Risk and Safety survey). Further information on this issue is provided in an opinion that the EESC is currently drafting on advertising that targets children.

3.3 Social networks offer their users a wide variety of possibilities. A social network allows users to get in touch with friends and family who are far away, make new friends, exchange information, exchange multimedia information, develop working relationships, present projects, build social and professional acquaintanceships, and express or defend ideas and causes, etc. These possibilities have been increased to a great extent in areas such as image transmission, infographics and videos with the most recent social networks such as Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr, whose user numbers have already exceeded those of YouTube, LinkedIn and Google +.

3.4 However, users value, above all, the importance of being able to share content immediately with many people, especially those they have not met through social networks (family, friends, acquaintances), even though they use social networks, at a secondary level, to get to know new people.

3.5 The context of a new relationship model enhances the positive aspects associated with the development of social networks, and in particular, its contribution to (3): — ensuring and exercising freedom of expression in specific social and political contexts; — creating and uniting online communities; — getting (back) in touch with and communicating with friends and family; — preventing the exposure of minors to dangerous situations and the possibility for them to ask for help through social networks; — promoting goods and services and increasing online transactions; — similarly, we should look at social networks from a new angle as facilitators of mobility.

3.6 The usefulness of social networks continues to grow as their application is extended to more and more areas in response to their users' reasons for belonging to them, which include family and social contacts; the exchange of business and entertainment information; hobbies and leisure time; friendships and relationships; access to knowledge and learning development; working and professional environments; civic participation and voluntary work; or discussions about opinions and ideas, etc.

3.7 We need to remember that "internet-based virtual community spaces present and perceive themselves as identical to the physical world where the rules of the game in that environment are not set by the user. When users register they accept contractual rules set by the service provider, although they may be presented to users as free of charge. Nevertheless, a transaction has taken place: we have provided our personal data. When we register on a social network, we do not usually check the legal information, we do not know how our data might be used, or how the environment is configured, who has access to our data and for what purpose" (El Derecho Fundamental a la Protección de Datos: Guía del Ciudadano ("A citizens' guide to the fundamental right to data protection"), Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (Spanish data protection agency), January 2011 (https://www.agpd.es/portalwebAGPD/index-ides-idphp.php)).

3.8 Nevertheless, social network users have the impression that these virtual spaces belong to them and that they are the ones who are creating and controlling the content and information being added. Since these social networks give their users the impression that they are playing an active role as well as a sense of freedom, users may fail to realise that others are deciding and controlling the rules of the game, and that, as a result, they are the ones who have real power over its support and entire content, and who therefore set the restrictions they deem fit (for instance on the users' age, which does not restrict access in practice).

3.9 At the same time, a commitment is being promoted to adopt a code of ethics to safeguard the values of using social networks appropriately for their designated objectives, either in the form of voluntary self-regulation or co-regulation on this issue, in order to control activities.

3.10 Nevertheless, this does not alter the fact that social network users expose themselves to various risks by using these networks. Some of these risks are common to internet use and shared with other applications. However, problems specifically associated with social networks, albeit present in all forms of internet use, are greatly accentuated in the case of these networks because of some of their features, such as the accumulation of data from millions of people; the predominance of young users with no previous training in the intelligent and responsible use of social networks, not to mention warnings regarding their risks (neither parents nor teachers are, as a rule, in a position to lay down rules for appropriate use based on their own knowledge and experience). To this we should add, ignorance of the risks and challenges entailed by such novel and overwhelming development as that of social networks, which places internet users in a situation that borders on the experimental.

3.11 Under these circumstances, societal anxiety is the response to this combination of fast-changing technology and social spaces that are new to minors and which their parents have never experienced. This is however also marked by sensationalism and myth-making, and is generating inappropriate policy responses (UNICEF report entitled Child Safety Online).

3.12 The different associated risks are as follows: psychological trauma caused by insults communicated by means of such services; the sexual harassment of children and young people (cyberabuse, cyberbullying and grooming); psychological harassment in an organisational context perpetrated by superiors, colleagues and subordinates (mobbing); harassment at work due to employers impinging on their staff's private lives or the overuse of smart phones; the posting of photographs or videos of naked or semi-naked adolescents, either by themselves or by others (sexting); explicit advertisements for prostitution and "escort" services; the sexualisation of children via social networks, frequent breaches of privacy, reputation and personal dignity; attacks on the physical and mental wellbeing of site users; incitement to violence, racism and xenophobia; dissemination of totalitarian ideologies which are fascist in nature or advocate Nazism; and suicides by young people, allegedly as a result of certain intimate details being made public through these networks.

3.13 Legal professionals have pointed out that the general terms and conditions of use of many of these networks transfer the copyright of user-generated content from the user to the platform, which is something that most internet users do not realise.

3.14 Risks associated with others using social networks for criminal or harmful activities, especially targeting minors are compounded by other risks generated by the users themselves, which can interfere with their ordinary personal, family, professional and social lives. There is also the risk associated with "online payments", which could encourage children to shop.

3.15 There is also the risk of creating a false identity through deception, self-deception or fantasy. Moreover, it makes it easy to fudge the line between intimacy, privacy and public life and encourages melodramatic and narcissistic behaviour, even where it does not distort reality (Enrique Echeburúa and Paz de Corral). Furthermore, excessive virtual communication has been seen to undermine the quality of human relations, replacing strong and direct relationships with much weaker and often uncertain ones. As a result, users may end up feeling isolated and may even use a virtual life as a substitute for real life.

3.16 This leads social network users to lower their guard and readily accept offers of friendship from strangers, with the result that within a matter of a few hours' conversation, they immediately give out sensitive, intimate and personal information such as their address, telephone number, their parents' names, i.e. the type of information used in questions designed to retrieve forgotten passwords. This can then open the way to finding out other confidential information regarding place of work, future projects and software use.

3.17 In conclusion, as pointed out in studies on this issue, social network users allow strangers into their group of friends on the mere basis of a good profile photo and are willing to reveal all sorts of personal information after a short online conversation. When you consider that most of these networks are built on the idea that these "friends" can have unrestricted access to each member's information and data, it is not difficult to see that one of the practical consequences of generally and indiscriminately accepting anyone you know - or do not know - as a friend, is that anything you share on a social network becomes, de facto, freely accessible.

3.18 This is why it is essential to focus on preventive information campaigns within the Safer Internet Programme to give advice about reading the various services' use and privacy policies before using them, thinking carefully before deciding to post information, using passwords, weighing what information we wish to reveal and controlling who has access to it, contact lists or the risks of infection by a computer virus and, in particular, on available sources of assistance if you have been a victim of irregular conduct of any type on a social network. Similarly, teacher training initiatives and educational materials have to be developed for early civic and digital education.

3.19 To this end, it is very important for the Commission's programmes to provide assistance for user associations and NGOs that are genuinely independent from the public and economic authorities, and which function democratically.

4. Problems associated with the inappropriate use of social networks

4.1 The World Health Organisation estimates that one in four people have a problem caused by excessive use of new technologies. Children and adolescents are the most vulnerable to this type of addiction since although they are the most accomplished users, they are also the most immature.

4.2 These addictions are also known as "non-toxic", "non-substance" or "non-chemical" addictions. Many experts believe that we should not use the word "addiction" in its strict sense when speaking about "new addictions", "social addictions", and "non-substance addictions". Others believe that it is just as appropriate to use this word as it is when speaking of addictions to work, shopping or sex, for example.

4.3 Excessive use of virtual social networks can lead to isolation, low output, indifference to other issues, behavioural problems and loss of income, not to mention sedentarism and obesity. In short, dependency and the fact that lifestyle is dictated by the habit are in line with the central nucleus of addiction. It is not the type of behaviour involved that characterises addiction to social networks but the type of relationship that the user has with it (Alonso-Fernández, 1996; Echeburúa and Corral, 2009).

4.4 These addictions have an impact on mental health involving episodes of anxiety, depression, obsessions, sleep disorders, personality changes, often resulting in mistreatment, brawls, traffic and work accidents, or self-harm.

4.5 To this we must add problems that have a direct impact on the users' physical health, i.e. physiological problems such as neck pain, tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, eyesight problems, self-neglect, sleeplessness and altered eating habits.

4.6 Internet use -whether or not it is excessive- is associated with psychosocial variables such as psychological vulnerability, stress factors, and family and social support. Some risk factors are specific to the excessive use of social networks among young people.

4.7 Some warning signals (doing without sleep, neglecting important activities, receiving complaints from someone close about one's use of networks, constantly thinking about the network, repeatedly failing to ration online time, losing all sense of time, etc.) appear before the problem becomes an addiction. Listening to these warnings before it is too late can - in combination with the development of evaluation and diagnostic tools - help early detection and subsequent therapeutic treatment.

4.8 Furthermore, public resources and preventive actions are also needed for this purpose (information campaigns, education programmes, digital literacy, assistance services, traceability and notification of risks, etc.), focusing attention on the special needs of the most vulnerable groups.

4.9 Physical and psychological symptoms including mood swings, irritability, impatience, unhappiness, anxiety have been noted in situations where users are forced to go offline, cannot get something done, or when the connection is slow (Estévez, Bayón, De la Cruz and Fernández-Liria, 2009; García del Castillo, Terol, Nieto, Lledó, Sánchez, Martín-Aragón, et al., 2008; Yang, Choe, Balty and Lee, 2005).

4.10 Some personality traits or emotional states can increase psychological vulnerability to addictions: impulsiveness, dysphoria (abnormal state of mind experienced subjectively as discomfort and characterised by mood swings); incapacity to cope with unpleasant stimuli, both physical (pain, insomnia, fatigue) and psychological (aversions, worries, responsibilities); and exaggerated thrill-seeking (Estévez, Bayón, De la Cruz and Fernández-Liria, 2009; García del Castillo, Terol, Nieto, Lledó, Sánchez, Martín-Aragón, et al., 2008; Yang, Choe, Balty and Lee, 2005).

4.11 Sometimes, however, a personality problem underlies the addiction, e.g. excessive timidity, low self-esteem, body image dissatisfaction, or inappropriate approach to everyday difficulties. Prior problems (depression, ADHD, social phobia, and hostility) can also increase the risk of getting hooked on the internet (Estévez, Bayón, De la Cruz and Fernández-Liria, 2009; García del Castillo, Terol, Nieto, Lledó, Sánchez, Martín-Aragón, et al., 2008; Yang, Choe, Balty and Lee, 2005).

4.12 Parents and teachers play a key role in prevention strategies aimed at instilling healthy attitudes towards the use of social networks. It has also proved helpful to get help from "buddies" (more experienced and risk-aware friends who can help their peers or younger friends to identify and avoid risks), who would be seen as online protectors.

4.13 Finally, it is a matter of fostering – through appropriate use – the many opportunities offered by social networks, which often impact on very important issues such as our work or consumption (Salcedo Aznal Alejandro, ¿Sociedad de consumo o redes de consumidores? Esbozo para un análisis social del consumidor actual ("Consumer society or consumer networks? Outline for a social study on today's consumers"), 2008), which are beyond the scope of this opinion. We should therefore undertake all necessary reforms to prevent – in application of labour law – unacceptable intrusions into people's private lives, through the use of new technologies (mobile phones, emails, social networks). To this end, the social partners should conclude agreements based on the principles of the Council of Europe's recommendation on this issue.

Brussels, 19 September 2012. The President of the European Economic and Social Committee Staffan NILSSON

(1) OJ C 318, 29.10.2011, p. 9-18.

(2) OJ C 128, 18.5.2010, p. 69-73.

(3) OJ C 128, 18.5.2010, p. 69-73.