Across Europe, countries are preparing to ban children from using social media. It now looks likely that Brussels could try to impose a bloc-wide ban.
(CN) – The European Union may propose banning children across the 27-nation bloc from using social media, the EU chief said Tuesday.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said a ban could be proposed as early as July after an expert panel makes its recommendations.
“The question is not whether young people should have access to social media. The question is whether social media should have access to young people,” von der Leyen said. “Let’s give childhood back to children.”
She made her comments at a conference in Copenhagen on artificial intelligence and children. Denmark will ban children under the age of 15 from social media later this year.
“The discussion about a minimum age for social media can no longer be ignored,” von der Leyen said, accusing social media companies of exploiting children.
In Europe and around the world, momentum is growing to ban children from using social media because of the harm it can cause young people.
Conversely, some are raising concerns about the possible unintended consequences of such measures. Critics warn that the bans could prove ineffective, push young people into more dangerous corners of the internet, limit children’s access to important information and threaten freedom of expression and privacy.
An EU-wide ban would be the biggest ever attempted with around 65 million children under the age of 15 in the EU and around 70 million children under the age of 16.
IN December 2025Australia became the first country to ban children from social media. in March, Indonesia joined Australia in banning children under the age of 16 from using social media. Results from Australia are mixed with many children saying they find it easy to bypass the restrictions.
Several countries in Europe are moving to implement similar bans. Later this year, Denmark and France expected to become the first European countries to impose bans on social media for children under 15.
GreeceAustria, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Belgium, Luxembourg and Malta are among the EU states where bans are under consideration or planned.
As part of a wider group of protection for minorsThe EU has already placed restrictions on children’s use of social media under the Digital Services Act, which came into effect two years ago.
The law restricts children younger than 13 from holding accounts on social media such as TikTok and Instagram, video-sharing platforms such as YouTube and Twitch, and sites such as Reddit and Discord.
Last month, the European Commission – the EU’s executive body – found Meta’s Instagram and Facebook had breached the Digital Services Act by not keeping children under 13 off their platforms.
In February, it warned China’s TikTok to change its “addiction design” or risk heavy fines.
Under the Digital Services Act, online platforms are required to take a number of steps to protect minors, such as safeguarding their personal information, giving them more control over what appears on their online feeds, limiting their exposure to harmful content and ensuring they don’t “get stuck in content-specific rabbit holes”.
To strengthen its child protection measures, the EU discovered an age verification application in April. Brussels called on EU states to approve the application.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.
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