EU set to curb children’s access to social media 

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Taoiseach Micheal Martin at UCC earlier this month. The EU will propose a law to restrict children’s access to social media, Ms von der Leyen said. Picture: Paul Faith/PA  

The European Union will propose a law to restrict children’s access to social media, according to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, as part of a growing global consensus about the harm it causes.

“We need to set the age at which children can legally access social media,” Ms von der Leyen said Monday at a press conference. “We need to consider phased and gradual access for different age ranges.” 

The proposal will call for children under the age of 13 to access social media only in the presence of an adult, while access for older children will be limited based on how safe social media companies make their platforms, she said. The plan will be presented after the summer break, Ms von der Leyen added.

The EU is joining a growing global movement to restrict children’s access to social media over mental health and safety concerns. The UK and other countries are planning a range of restrictions on children’s use of social media platforms in the wake of curbs Australia introduced last year.

In addition to regulation, high-profile lawsuits are targeting social media’s impact on young people. A US jury this year ordered Meta and Google to pay damages to a 20-year-old woman who said her addiction to the platforms damaged her mental health.

Ireland is among several European countries including France, Portugal, Denmark, Greece, Poland, Austria, and the Netherlands weighing age restrictions, piling pressure on the bloc to spearhead a unified approach.

Lawmakers and member states will be able to debate and amend the commission’s proposal before it becomes law.

The commission has made child protection a priority when enforcing its digital regulation, and has developed a verification app for online platforms to age-gate their services. Last week, it escalated a probe of Meta into the use of addictive design that could result in significant fines.

Ms Von der Leyen has taken an increasingly aggressive stance against social media’s impact on children. “It is not the question of when children or teenagers would have access to social media, but it’s more the question of when social media will have access to our children,” she said in Ireland this month.