EU Parliament Backs EU-Wide Age Checks to Keep Under-16s Off Social Media

The European Parliament has adopted a non-legislative report calling for an EU-wide minimum age of 16 for access to social media, video-sharing platforms and AI "companions", with access for 13- to 16-year-olds allowed only with parental consent. The text, approved in plenary by 483 votes to 92 with 86 abstentions, reflects mounting concern about the mental and physical health impacts of online services on children, including what MEPs describe as "problematic" smartphone use among roughly a quarter of minors.

From an identity perspective, the report explicitly endorses the European Commission’s work on an EU age-verification app and the European Digital Identity (eID) wallet, positioning these as key building blocks for privacy-preserving age assurance. MEPs stress that any age-check systems must be accurate, minimise data collection and protect minors’ privacy, and they caution that such tools do not relieve platforms of their responsibility to design services that are safe and age-appropriate by default.

The Parliament also calls for a ban on engagement-based recommender systems and loot boxes for minors, stricter enforcement of the Digital Services Act, and the possibility of personal liability for senior managers in cases of serious and persistent non-compliance, particularly around the protection of children. It urges the Commission to act against manipulative design patterns, targeted advertising to minors and harmful gamification features, and highlights emerging risks from generative AI tools such as deepfakes, AI companions and nudity apps.

The resolution is not itself law, but it sends a strong political signal ahead of future legislative proposals and delegated acts. For digital identity and security providers, it underlines that age assurance is moving quickly from a content-safety discussion into a regulated identity-tech use case, with the eID wallet likely to play a central role in future technical architectures.

The EU has been rapidly advancing age verification initiatives, with pilots already underway in five member states, Google and Sparkassen launching the first national Google Wallet-based age verification system, and Greece launching a dedicated Kids Wallet app. Meanwhile, UK platforms have begun age-verification pilots ahead of enforcement under that country’s Online Safety Act.

Sources: European Parliament, European Parliament (OEIL)

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By the ID Tech Editorial Team