EU moves toward social media ban for children

(CN) — The European Union may propose banning children across the 27-nation bloc from using social media, the EU’s chief said Tuesday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said a ban could be proposed as early as July after an expert panel delivers 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 us give childhood back to children.”

She made her remarks at a conference in Copenhagen on artificial intelligence and children. Denmark is moving to 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 due to the harm it can cause younger people.

Conversely, some are raising concerns about the potential unintended consequences of such measures. Critics warn bans may prove ineffective, push young people toward riskier 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 largest ever attempted with about 65 million children under the age of 15 in the EU and about 70 million children under the age of 16.

In December 2025, Australia became the first country to ban children from social media. In March, Indonesia joined Australia in forbidding children under the age of 16 from using social media. Results from Australia have been mixed with many children saying they find it easy to circumvent the restrictions.

Several countries in Europe are moving to enforce similar bans. Later this year, Denmark and France are expected to become the first European nations to impose bans on social media for children under 15.

Greece, Austria, 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 set of protections for minors, the EU already imposed restrictions on social media use by children under its Digital Services Act, which took effect two years ago.

The law restricts children younger than 13 from holding accounts on social media like TikTok and Instagram, video sharing platforms like YouTube and Twitch, and sites like 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 failing to keep kids under 13 off their platforms.

In February, it warned China’s TikTok to change its “addictive 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 in their online feeds, limiting their exposure to harmful content and ensuring they don’t get “stuck in rabbit holes of specific content.”

To bolster its child protection measures, the EU unveiled an age verification app in April. Brussels urged EU states to adopt the app.

Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.

Follow @cainburdeau