The EU Bans Social Media for Under-13s
3 hours ago
- The EU announced restrictions on children's social media access, including a total ban for under-13s and limited parental-supervised accounts for ages 13-15.
- The measures are part of an EU Kids Act, with platforms required to implement safe design for users up to 18 and plans to tackle addictive design in an upcoming Digital Fairness Act.
- Commission President Ursula von der Leyen argued Europe should set the rules, not Big Tech, citing harms like sleep loss, anxiety, self-harm, and exposure to extreme or sexualized content.
- Several EU member states are already working on national laws, though France's top court recently struck down a similar ban on free expression grounds.
- Legal experts estimate EU-wide legislation could take until 2029 but say companies may welcome uniform rules; the tiered approach is seen as more proportionate than blanket bans in the UK and Australia.
- Concerns remain about privacy and enforcement, including the chilling effect of deep parental monitoring and the difficulty of accurate age checks without infringing rights.
- The EU also highlighted broader technology concerns, promising future initiatives on AI in the real economy and a Quality Jobs Act to support workers.
- The EU has introduced an app to verify adult age, which could potentially be adapted for younger age groups.