European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Copenhagen on Tuesday that the EU should consider delaying children’s access to social media, as Brussels weighs tougher rules for platforms and minors. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
Von der Leyen said the issue is not whether young people should have access to social media, but whether social media should have access to young people. She said the discussion about a minimum age for social media can no longer be ignored. [10, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7]
She linked the debate to risks for children including sleep deprivation, depression, anxiety, self-harm, cyberbullying, grooming, exploitation and suicide. In her speech at an AI-and-children summit, she said, “Risks are multiplying fast,” and pointed to what she described as harmful design features on major platforms. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
The Commission is already working on a Digital Fairness Act that would target addictive and harmful design practices on social media platforms and strengthen the Digital Services Act. The proposed rules would also place limits on the use of artificial intelligence in social media. [2, 3, 6, 7, 9]
Von der Leyen said the EU is taking action or investigating TikTok, X, Instagram and Facebook over harmful design, age-limit enforcement or related content concerns. She said Brussels is acting against TikTok’s addictive features and against Meta, saying Instagram and Facebook have failed to enforce their 13-year-old minimum age limit. [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
Several countries have already moved to restrict minors’ access to social media, including Australia and several European states, according to the facts provided. Von der Leyen said a new legal proposal could be put forward in the summer, after an expert panel due to report in July. [10, 1, 3, 4, 11, 7, 8, 9]
The Commission’s next milestone is the expert panel report due in July 2026, which could feed into a legislative proposal later in the summer. [1, 4, 8]
