Electronic identification cards, known as eIDs, have been available in Belgium for many years – since 2003, in fact. Until now, however, they have always been optional. Now, the Belgian government has become yet another country to consider making them a requirement for their citizens to use social media.
All Belgian citizens over the age of 12 are required to have a national ID card. An eID is one option to fulfill this requirement. eID cards are already required in order to access certain government services online.
Belgium’s ID cards have been upgraded several times over the years. In 2020, the owner’s fingerprints became a mandatory inclusion on all such cards, for example.
It was announced earlier this month that citizens will soon be able to request digital versions of their ID cards that they can use on smartphones by November 2026. The new form of the ID will be accepted not only for identification purposes but also for online authentication, electronic signatures, and for travel between countries within the Schengen Zone.
Minister of the Interior Bernard Quintin stressed that the use of the digital ID will remain optional and that existing eID cards will still be valid.
Last week, however, it was reported by the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws that the country’s new minister of public modernization, civil service, public enterprises, digitization, and buildings administration, Vanessa Matz, is considering making digital ID mandatory for using social media. The newspaper said that this suggestion appears in a policy note issued by Matz.
Caroline Gennez, who is the current Flemish minister of welfare, praised the idea. “It is becoming increasingly clear that social media has a negative impact on the well-being of our children and young people,” she said, as reported by Het Laatste Nieuws. “There they are confronted with completely unrealistic ideals about beauty, images of brutal violence and sexual abuse, fake news, and hate speech.”
“We need to intervene,” Gennez added. “In real life, we find it perfectly normal to set boundaries and introduce age restrictions to protect our children and young people. Why should it be different in the digital world?”
The minister did not address the obvious privacy issues that would arise from such legislation, despite the fact that a mandatory ID check would render online anonymity impossible for citizens of all ages.
Other European countries are considering making a digital ID mandatory for social media use as well. Last month France’s Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin said that he will be looking into such a scheme for French Internet users in the coming weeks, as previously reported by Remix News.
