European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is considering an EU-wide rule that would keep children under 13 off social media unless they are supervised by a caregiver, according to the Financial Times and a statement from her office.
The idea is framed as a common “start date” for social media across the bloc. Von der Leyen told the Financial Times on Monday that she is looking at a “harmonised EU-wide delay to social media” for younger children. In a separate statement issued Sunday, she said parents should still decide when a child gets a first smartphone, but argued there is already agreement that social media access needs a minimum age.
The practical version of that policy is still thin. According to the Financial Times, von der Leyen wants children to receive access gradually after turning 13, based on evidence from platforms that their services are age-appropriate and safe for teenagers. That leaves the central fight where it usually is: how platforms would verify age, what proof regulators would accept, and whether companies that make money from attention will be trusted to certify that they are not harming young users.
Pressure from member states
The push comes as EU governments press Brussels to move faster on children’s online safety. France, Spain and Greece have already introduced bans or are working through national legislation, according to the report. Some governments have been seeking restrictions for children aged 15 and under, so an EU threshold at 13 may land below what those capitals want.
Von der Leyen’s public argument is blunt. In her statement, she said allowing large technology companies “unrestricted access” to children would expose another generation to mental harm, addiction and misery. She also said European children now spend an average of four to six hours a day looking at screens, adding that six hours daily would amount to 20 years of a life.
She put the burden on the companies that design social platforms. Von der Leyen said society expects carmakers to install seatbelts and airbags, and called on platform architects to show that their services do no harm. The analogy is convenient politics, but the enforcement problem is messier online: a seatbelt can be inspected, while a recommendation feed changes constantly and is usually hidden from outsiders.
Rules already exist, weakly
Most major social platforms already say users must be older than 12, according to the report. Those limits have been easy for children to get around because they rely heavily on self-declared ages and platform enforcement rather than a legal access rule.
Von der Leyen said “age-appropriate restrictions” are needed for platforms and warned that childhood cannot be recovered once lost. The Commission has not yet set out a formal legislative proposal in the material cited, and the details will decide whether this becomes a real restriction or another compliance ritual for companies with enough lawyers to sand down the edges.
This story draws on original reporting from The Record.
