The European Parliament's Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection has voted to ban social media access for children under 13 across the EU, with access restricted until age 16 without parental consent. The recommendation passed with 32 votes in favour, 5 against and 9 abstentions, pending final approval at next week's plenary session in Strasbourg, France.
MEPs expressed serious concerns about major platforms' inadequate measures to protect minors, highlighting risks of addiction and mental health issues from uncontrolled exposure to illegal or harmful content. The committee calls for swift implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and prohibiting harmful practices like addictive design and gambling-like features.
The European Commission is running a pilot project with several member states, including Spain, to develop an EU-wide platform for verifying users' real age on social media across devices. While MEPs support this initiative, they emphasise the need to ensure these verification systems protect minors' privacy and comply with data protection regulations.
The parliamentary position advocates for a complete ban on social media access for under-13s, with access restricted to age 16 without parental permission. These age restrictions would also apply to video-sharing platforms and AI-generated content platforms.
MEPs are calling for stronger enforcement of the DSA, including fines and potential bans for non-compliant platforms. The recommendation suggests holding platform executives personally liable for serious violations and proposes banning engagement-based recommendation algorithms for minors, with addictive design features disabled by default.