{"id":310,"date":"2026-10-19T18:55:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T16:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/2026\/10\/19\/campus-america-peligros-tecnologia-juventud\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T10:00:39","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T08:00:39","slug":"campus-america-peligros-tecnologia-juventud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/2026\/10\/19\/campus-america-peligros-tecnologia-juventud\/","title":{"rendered":"Campus America begins by legally addressing the dangers of technology for youth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Campus America 2026 has kicked off its extensive scientific program at the Faculty of Law of the University of La Laguna, with the research seminar \u201c<\/span>The conference "The Rights of New Generations in the Face of Technological Advancement: Lights and Shadows," coordinated by Mar\u00eda Ar\u00e1nzazu Calzadilla Medina, Professor in the Department of Basic Legal Disciplines, featured three prestigious Chilean civil law experts who addressed the dangers that social media and artificial intelligence pose to children and adolescents. The speakers were Rommy \u00c1lvarez Escudero, from the University of Valpara\u00edso (Chile); and Pilar Benavente Moreda and Alma Mar\u00eda Rodr\u00edguez Guiti\u00e1n, both from the Autonomous University of Madrid.<\/p>\n

The latter addressed the possibility that companies responsible for artificial intelligence chatbots could face civil liability for damages caused to users of that service or their families. To illustrate this, it presented the examples of two legal cases that arose in the United States, in which two families held certain chatbots responsible for the suicides of their relatives, arguing that they were defective products that did not offer safety guarantees to vulnerable users.<\/p>\n

The legal battle over the cases concluded this year with an out-of-court settlement: Garc\u00eda vs. Character Technologies, the company responsible for the chat, and Google, the company that provided its technology. Sewell Seltzer was a teenager who frequently accessed the AI chat platform and engaged in romantic and sexual conversations in which the topic of suicide was a recurring theme. The wrongful death lawsuit argued that the company was responsible for the content of its own algorithms and also accused it of operating and marketing a \u201cdangerous and predatory application.\u201d.<\/p>\n

The company, on the other hand, tried to evade the accusation by arguing that what it sells is a service, not a product, and that, moreover, AI platforms are not content creators, but rather host content created by third parties. However, Judge Anne Conway rejected these arguments and allowed the case to proceed, although there was no trial because a settlement agreement was reached between the parties in 2026. Neither the amount of the compensation nor the details have been disclosed, but it is known that the agreement stipulates that the company must incorporate a series of security obligations.<\/p>\n

The second case is that of Matt and Maria Raine against OpenAI and its owner, Sam Altman, which is still open and therefore its outcome is unknown. In this instance, a homeschooled teenager was using ChatGPT for his studies, but soon began having conversations about politics, family, and romance. The boy hanged himself, and upon reviewing the chat logs, it was discovered that in one of them, the platform responded to the user's request for information on which ropes were suitable for suicide.<\/p>\n

In this case, OpenAI claims that the platform has filters against suicidal content, but acknowledges that, in this particular instance, the system failed. The lawsuit has grown as other similar incidents have come to light, and as a result, California has passed a groundbreaking law that holds companies liable for damages caused by AI chat.<\/p>\n

Pilar Benavente questioned whether similar cases could succeed in Spain, and believes it is possible, subject to certain legal limitations, since existing regulations only considered physical objects as "products," although subsequent European regulations already include software under that designation. Furthermore, the 2021 Child Protection Law states that children and adolescents have the right to protection against digital content that could harm their development and physical and mental health, and also indicates that the design of these technologies must take into account the child's best interests. Additionally, the Spanish draft law for the protection of minors in digital environments, which was under consideration but has been put on hold due to the upcoming elections, includes the obligation for technology companies to provide parental controls.<\/p>\n

The speaker opened the debate on whether, in the cases described, parental responsibility could also be extended to those who failed to adequately supervise their children's digital activity. The fact is that current legislation only recommends, not mandates, that adults undertake this task. Furthermore, there is the concern that doing so could violate minors' right to privacy. On this point, there are rulings indicating that such intrusion is permissible with the express consent of the child when they are sufficiently mature, and also when the physical safety of a minor or a third party is at risk.<\/p>\n

\"Rommy<\/a>

Rommy Alvarez.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Chilean case<\/b><\/p>\n

Rommy \u00c1lvarez Escudero, from the University of Valpara\u00edso (Chile), spoke about the digital environment and the right to the protection of personal data of children and adolescents in her country, focusing particularly on the concepts of consent, progressive autonomy, and guardianship. Her presentation indicated that there is a great deal of alignment with Spain, since to address these cases, the American legislator has based their approach on the European model and, in very specific matters, on the Spanish model.<\/p>\n

After reviewing several international examples, he explained that Chile passed Law 21.719 two years ago, which comprehensively reforms the old Law 19.628 and modernizes personal data protection, aligning it with international standards such as the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The law includes, among other things, the creation of a body responsible for safeguarding these rights, similar to the Spanish Data Protection Agency, and is scheduled to come into effect in Vigo on December 1, 2026.<\/p>\n

This delay was necessary because the country needed to make a series of adjustments to properly implement the new regulation\u2014such as, for example, the creation of the aforementioned agency. However, with a month and a half to go before its implementation, the truth is that much remains to be done, and therefore, an additional one-year delay has already been requested.<\/p>\n

Until that moment, the text that has been used teaching Law 21.430 of 2022 on the comprehensive protection of the rights of children and adolescents, which in its article 33 includes concepts such as responsibility, information and confidentiality that, although not specifically referring to the digital realm, can be applied.<\/p>\n

The powerful figure has praised the existence of the soon-to-be-implemented law because it improves the protection of minors, who are at a distinct disadvantage in the digital age because it is a system "created by adults." Therefore, it is necessary to develop a "consent architecture" of rights specifically for minors, which would be based on the concept of progressive autonomy: a legal principle that recognizes that children and adolescents gradually acquire the capacity to exercise their rights, make decisions, and form their own judgment as they grow. This is based not only on age, but also on the family, social, cultural, and educational environment, as well as cognitive abilities.<\/p>\n

Thus, the new Chilean law establishes a "gradual consent" system that combines the principle of progressive autonomy with strict age limits. For example, consent regarding personal data must be given by parents or legal guardians until the age of 14, while for sensitive data, parental authority increases until the age of 16, at which point it becomes the minor's decision, but with parental consent.<\/p>\n

The speaker outlined the different legal protection measures for these rights in Chile and concluded by mentioning draft laws from Chile, Spain, and the European Union, such as the EU Kids Act, which would prohibit the use of social networks by children under 13 and, up to age 15, only the use of mini-accounts managed by parents, while increasing the responsibility of the platforms.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Advertising and social media<\/b><\/p>\n

Finally, Pilar Benavente Moreda, from the Autonomous University of Madrid, addressed the situation of children and adolescents as particularly vulnerable consumers in the context of advertising and digital environments, considering their dual status as both recipients and objects of commercial communication. She analyzed contemporary forms of advertising aimed at minors\u2014food, beverages, toys, fashion\u2014and the risks associated with the intensive use of technologies and social networks, such as \u201c<\/span>"Technological vamping.".<\/p>\n

It also examined the growing public exposure of children and adolescents through phenomena such as child influencers, their participation in consumer audiovisual formats, and the practice of sharenting<\/i>, which contribute to the commodification of their image and the indiscriminate dissemination of their private life by their own parents.<\/p>\n

Given this reality, the study addressed the current challenges of legal protection for this group in a digital environment that amplifies situations of risk and vulnerability, simultaneously positioning them as potential victims and agents of social impact. To analyze these issues, the study began with the existing legal framework, comprised of the Spanish Constitution, specific legislation for the protection of children and adolescents, and consumer and user protection regulations, as well as an analysis of the aforementioned 2025 Draft Organic Law for the protection of minors in digital environments.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Campus America 2026 has kicked off its extensive scientific program at the Faculty of Law of the University of La Laguna,\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,266,33,6,9,10],"tags":[267,268,159,12,269,270,271,272,273,274,275],"class_list":["post-310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-america","category-campus-america-2026","category-catedra-infancia-y-adolescencia","category-catedras-institucionales-y-de-empresa","category-destacado","category-internacionalizacion","category-portada-ull","tag-alma-maria-rodriguez-guitian","tag-aranzazu-calzadilla","tag-campus-america","tag-campus-america-2026","tag-derechos-de-los-menres","tag-derechos-digitales","tag-inteligencia-artificial","tag-nna","tag-pilar-benavente-moreda","tag-redes-sociales","tag-rommy-alvarez-escudero"],"acf":[],"primary_category":null,"featured_image_thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/10\/Semin-Derechos-nuevas-generac-04-300x200.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":317,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310\/revisions\/317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ull.es\/portal\/noticias\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}