EU Considers Social Media Age Restrictions for Minors
The European Commission is considering stronger EU-wide limits on children’s access to social media. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has indicated support for a common approach intended to reduce children’s exposure to harmful online content, addictive platform design, and other risks associated with social media use.
The discussion centers on age-based access rules rather than a single uniform ban. Reported recommendations would prevent very young children from using screens, require supervised and time-limited access for younger users, and allow older minors to access social media only where platforms can show that their services and content are appropriate for their age.
A minimum age of 13 appears to be a central part of the policy debate. This differs from the European Parliament’s earlier position favoring a general minimum age of 16 for social media access, subject to parental consent from age 13. The final approach will therefore require political agreement on the appropriate balance between child protection, parental responsibility, minors’ rights, and access to digital services.
Age assurance will be a central enforcement issue. The EU is developing age-verification technology designed to enable users to prove their age without unnecessarily disclosing identity data to online platforms. Any future measures would need to work alongside the Digital Services Act, including its protections for minors and its restrictions on online platforms presenting advertising based on profiling to children.
For digital-service providers, a future EU age limit could bring major compliance obligations. Platforms may need to redesign onboarding, age-assurance processes, recommender systems, default settings, and reporting procedures. They will also need to ensure that measures aimed at protecting minors comply with GDPR principles, particularly data minimization, privacy by design, and the special safeguards applicable to children’s personal data.
