EU to ban social media for under 13s, curb access until 15

STRASBOURG, France - The European Union will ban social media for children under 13 and allow only limited, supervised access until the age of 15 under plans unveiled on Sept 16 by EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.

A global backlash against social media has piled pressure on policymakers, with a rising body of evidence showing negative impacts on children’s physical and mental health.

“It is time for Europe to act,” von der Leyen said during her annual keynote address to the European Parliament. “It is we who decide our rules, not big tech,” she warned.

Australia in 2025 became the first country to ban social media for under-16s, triggering similar moves elsewhere, but the European Commission chief said the 27-country bloc would take a more “gradual” approach.

“No social media under the age of 13. No personal account under the age of 15,” she said. “That means from 13 to under 15, only mini accounts, set up and supervised by parents or guardians, with limited features and time restriction to one hour a day.”

“And between 15 and 18, safe design will be an obligation for the platforms.”

Before outlining the EU’s approach, von der Leyen paid tribute to a 14-year-old girl in Belgium, named Olea, who killed herself one month ago after being bullied, and whose mother she quoted as saying: “I am convinced that without these omnipresent networks, my daughter would still be here.”

Von der Leyen made no reference to online games or AI chatbots, which according to draft legislation seen by AFP would also be hit by the restrictions.

The commission president and tech chief Henna Virkkunen will formally present the proposed “KIDS Act”, including the tiered age limits in Strasbourg, France on Sept 17.

Children’s rights and parents groups welcomed moves to make online platforms safer.

“The devil is of course in the detail. Tomorrow’s proposal must be coherent, comprehensive, future-proof and robustly enforceable,” the 5Rights Foundation advocacy group’s Leanda Barrington-Leach said.

“Finally Europe is sending a clear signal: it’s time to act against the harmful design of platforms to protect our children from toxic algorithms and features,” said Arnaud Ducoin, part of a group of French families who have filed a complaint against TikTok over teenagers’ self-harm and suicides.

‘Arbitrary age threshold’

The new EU law will also ban addictive design features such as so-called infinite scrolling where children are concerned, according to a draft document.

If platforms break the rules, they face fines of up to six per cent of annual turnover, draft details show.

“We do not have to accept addictive features,” von der Leyen warned, saying “platforms will have to prove that they are safe”.

The “risk” is not limited to children, she noted. “Addictive design, for example, is harming everyone,” she said, telling EU lawmakers that Europe needed more rules that will be proposed in the autumn.

Simeon de Brouwer of digital rights group EDRi said making platforms safer across the board was an urgent necessity, telling AFP “if the design is harmful at 13, it does not magically become safe on their 15th or 18th birthday”.

Pressure from EU states

Von der Leyen had faced pressure from members including France, Denmark and Greece for action across the 27-nation bloc to limit online harms for children.

France, which has proposed its own legislation, welcomed the announcement. Government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon said it was “a step in the right direction”.

The EU has sought for years to rein in Big Tech, empowering itself with a strengthened legal armoury, but it believes additional tools are needed to limit online harms.

The bloc has already told Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram as well as TikTok to change their “addictive” design through its content law known as the Digital Services Act, but changes have taken longer than Brussels wants.

Digital and consumer rights groups have meanwhile raised concerns over a related age-check app due to be rolled out later this year which Brussels says will keep children off social media.

“Age verification is not a silver bullet and would raise serious privacy and data protection concerns,” said European consumer organisation BEUC’s Agustin Reyna.

The proposal on Sept 17 will only become law after negotiations between EU capitals and the European Parliament, which could take months. AFP