The European Union is launching a new initiative aimed at reducing children's access to social networks. Greece, supported by France and Spain, is at the forefront of this proposal. The goal is to implement new regulations that would prevent minors from using platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat without parental approval. This was reported by Politico.
A unified "digital maturity age" is proposed for the entire EU, under which children will not be able to use social networks without permission until they reach a certain age. EU ministers of digital policy are expected to discuss this initiative in early June. Denmark, which will soon take over the EU Council presidency, has already indicated that protecting children online will be a priority. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has previously supported the idea of banning social media for children under 15.
This initiative arises from concerns over excessive social media usage by children and the negative impact of online content. French President Emmanuel Macron has been advocating for such changes for several months, believing that children under 15 should be shielded from certain forms of online behavior. Last year, France passed a law restricting access to social media for children under 15, but its implementation has not yet been completed.
As part of the initiative, mandatory age verification at the device level is proposed, along with new European standards that will limit the use of addictive features in applications—such as autoplay videos, content personalization, and pop-ups. This may face resistance from companies like Apple and Google, which do not want such controls to be enforced at the device level. In contrast, Meta supports age verification at the app or store level.
The initiators emphasize that protecting children from digital risks requires joint efforts across the EU. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis highlighted that an outright ban would be ineffective and that focus should be on age verification and adapting services to children’s needs. France, Spain, and Greece also plan to test a special age verification app developed by the European Commission.
Interestingly, the issue of restricting children’s access to social media is gaining increasing resonance worldwide, especially after Australia announced its intention to set a minimum age of 16 for creating accounts on several social media platforms starting at the end of 2024.