Von der Leyen Signals EU Social Media Age Rules, With Age Verification App as a Tool

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the EU will propose rules on children’s access to social media after the summer, pointing to the bloc’s age verification app as one of the tools for enforcing a minimum age.

Von der Leyen set out her position in Brussels while receiving the report of the Special Panel on Child Safety Online, an expert group she commissioned to examine the effects of social media algorithms on children, co-chaired by Dr. Melchior and Professor Fegert. Citing the panel’s evidence, she said young people across Europe now spend four to six hours a day on screens, and that almost 60 percent of young children have experienced emotional or psychosocial problems online.

She framed the response around three points. First, platforms must prove their services do no harm, a duty she anchored in the Digital Services Act, the EU law that requires providers to remove harmful features such as addictive algorithms and dark patterns, noting enforcement actions over TikTok’s addictive design and, most recently, against Meta. Second, access must be age-appropriate. “This is not about whether children can access social media. It is about whether and when social media can access our children,” she said, describing the Commission’s age verification app as easy to use, privacy-preserving, and open source. The app, which lets a user prove an age threshold without handing over identity documents, is already being piloted in several member states.

Third, von der Leyen backed what she called a social media start date, an age below which children cannot legally join social platforms, likening it to minimum ages for driving and buying alcohol. She said the restrictions should cover a category she described as social media plus, taking in social platforms along with other services with age-inappropriate or addictive features, with phased and gradual access for different age ranges. Pressure for an EU-wide approach has been building, and the European Parliament has backed EU-wide age checks to keep under-16s off social media.

The Commission will review the panel’s recommendations and present a proposal after the summer, von der Leyen said, drawing on the experience of member states and of countries including Australia.

Sources: European Commission

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By the ID Tech Editorial Team