EU weighs autumn social media curbs for children, shifting tech rules
The European Commission will propose new restrictions on children's social media access this autumn, a move that would force tech platforms to adopt costly "safe by design" standards to avoid sweeping privacy-invasive age checks.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has pledged to restrict social media access for children, with a draft proposal expected in the autumn. The move follows a 156-page report by an EU-appointed expert group of doctors, academics, and parents, which recommended a "staged approach" to internet use. Von der Leyen warned that "the status quo, a world where we continue to allow big tech unrestricted access to our children, will only consign another generation to more mental harm, addiction and misery."
For tech companies, the proposed rules represent a potential shift in regulatory compliance. Rather than relying solely on outright bans, the expert group wants a "safe by design" framework that forces platforms to prove their products are safe by default before users encounter harmful features.
"This means providing safe social networks to everyone as a default, not only to children, and that only those who want to have access to certain, I would say, toxic features would have to go through an age verification process," said Jean Cattan, co-director of the Future Technology Institute.
This strategy is a direct response to the practical failures of strict age bans. In Australia, the first country to ban users under 16 from social media, studies showed young people easily circumvented the restrictions by exploiting weak age-verification checks. By making platforms safer by default, Brussels aims to limit the number of users subjected to invasive age checks.
However, the proposal's scope is expanding beyond traditional social networks. The expert panel recommended applying restrictions to what it termed "social media plus," a category that includes video games and AI chatbots.
This broad definition has alarmed digital rights advocates. Simeon de Brouwer of European Digital Rights questioned whether forcing users to prove their age to access online spaces for entertainment or information is constructive. "The question is not about whether under-13s should have access to social media, AI companions, video games, but whether identifying yourself, proving yourself to be of a certain age or having the documents or technology to prove that should be a precondition for accessing online spaces," he said.
Finding the balance between child safety and privacy will be Brussels' biggest challenge. "There's really strong political will on the one hand to protect children, but then these proposed tools raise major questions about privacy, encryption, and surveillance," noted tech reporter Sara Brandstätter. Lawmakers will need to resolve these tensions when the draft legislation emerges in September.
