Euractiv: European Commission preparing restrictions on children's use of social networks

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen plans to announce in September plans to introduce pan-European age restrictions on the use of social networks.

This was reported by the Euractiv portal, citing sources.

According to its data, von der Leyen may present the corresponding initiative on September 16 during the annual State of the Union address. It is expected that the discussion will focus on developing pan-European rules that will require digital platforms to prevent the creation of accounts by children who have not reached the established age. As Euractiv notes, the final format of the initiative has not yet been determined. In particular, the European Commission has not yet decided what minimum age will be proposed and whether mechanisms for mandatory age verification or parental consent will be used. Sources for the portal reported that the recommendations of the expert group on protecting children online should be presented on July 13 and will form the basis for future legislative proposals.

The portal notes that the issue of protecting minors online has become one of the key priorities of von der Leyen's second term. A number of EU countries, including France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, and Greece, are already developing their own restrictions on children's use of social networks. Australia was the first in the world to introduce a ban on registration in major social networks for persons under 16 years of age.