European lawmakers on Thursday called for stricter rules to protect minors online, including a bloc-wide minimum age of 16 to access social media and AI companions without parental consent.
In a report adopted by the European Parliament鈥檚 Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, lawmakers recommended that no child under 13 be allowed to access social media, with or without parental permission.
They also called for fines and bans on platforms that flout the bloc鈥檚 rules on protecting minors under the Digital Services Act, as concerns soar over the impact of online technologies on children鈥檚 mental health and safety.
鈥榃e need a higher bar for access to social media,鈥� said the Danish EU lawmaker Christel Schaldemose, who led the initiative. 鈥楽econdly, we need stronger safeguards for minors using online services.鈥�
To curb access to harmful content, lawmakers backed banning engagement-based algorithms for minors, disabling addictive design features and prohibiting gambling-like mechanisms such as loot boxes in games accessible to children.
The report said platforms should also be barred from monetising or incentivising so-called 鈥榢idfluencing鈥� 鈥� minors acting as influencers, the report said.
Adopted in committee by a wide majority, the proposal will be put to a vote by the full parliament during its plenary session between November 24 and 27.
The lawmaker push adds to growing momentum for EU-wide action to ban social media use for children 鈥� going beyond the bloc鈥檚 already stringent rules regulating the digital space.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen personally supports such a move, with an expert panel to report back by year end on what steps could be taken at the EU level.
Twenty-five of the EU鈥檚 27 countries alongside Norway and Iceland this month signed a declaration backing von der Leyen鈥檚 plans to study a potential bloc-wide digital majority age, and stressing the 鈥榩ressing need鈥� to shield minors online.
