European Commission president proposes age restrictions for social media in the EU
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in Strasbourg, France, proposed banning children under the age of 13 from using social media in all 27 EU countries. For older teenagers, the plan provides for separate restrictions on access to platforms.
As TimesLIVE reports, von der Leyen presented the initiative during her annual State of the European Union address. According to her, the EU should not tolerate platform features that cause addiction, children being drawn into increasingly radical content, and the use of girls’ photographs to create sexualized images using AI.
Separate rules for teenagers
Under the proposal, teenagers aged 13 to 15 could use so-called mini-accounts under the supervision of guardians. Such accounts would have restrictions on available features and usage time.
For users aged 15 to 18, social media platforms would have to ensure safe design, the European Commission president said. Details of the plan were expected on Thursday.
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The proposal must be approved by EU countries
The proposal still needs to be discussed and put to a vote by the EU’s 27 member states. This process could take years. The publication notes that the initiative could also heighten tensions in Brussels’ relations with US President Donald Trump, who has long criticized European regulation of technology companies.
Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok already prohibit registration by users under 13, but authorities have accused the companies of insufficient oversight of compliance with this rule. Simeon de Brauwer, a policy adviser at the digital rights organization EDRi, said the proposed approach merely postpones young people’s encounter with online risks without addressing the platforms’ business model, which is built on retaining users’ attention.
According to TimesLIVE, this is the first proposal to introduce a general age restriction for social media across the entire European Union. Spain and Portugal have already taken separate steps to ban teenagers’ access to platforms. At the same time, France’s highest court last month struck down a law banning social media for children under 15, citing violations of fundamental freedoms.
