Key facts
- The EU is considering new regulations for online platforms to enhance child safety, including a potential EU-wide minimum age for social media use.
- An expert panel recommended that digital service providers retain primary responsibility for keeping minors safe online.
- Concerns exist regarding the effectiveness of the EU's age-verification app and the potential for platforms to be bypassed.
- Data protection and minimization principles are critical considerations for the EU.
- A significant portion of European parents do not actively use available parental control tools.
- The current political discourse lacks direct incentives or accountability mechanisms for parental involvement in online child safety.
The European Union is intensifying its focus on online child safety, with discussions centering on new platform obligations and the potential establishment of an EU-wide minimum age for social media use. While some member states consider age restrictions up to 16, Estonia advocates for digital literacy and enforcement of existing frameworks like the Digital Services Act (DSA).
A recent report from a special expert panel, co-led by Prof. Dr. Jörg M. Fegert and Dr. Maria Melchior, acknowledges that not all minors under 18 should be treated uniformly but leaves room for interpretation by policymakers. The report emphasizes platform responsibility while largely relying on softer measures for parental involvement, a focus that mirrors the EU Commission's approach.
Existing EU legislation, including the DSA, GDPR, and the AI Act, already addresses various aspects of child protection online. However, the current debate often simplifies the issue to minimum age requirements, overlooking the technical and institutional challenges of enforcement. The EU is also exploring an age-verification app, though it has faced criticism for being easily bypassed by AI agents.
International experiences, such as teenagers in the UK and Australia circumventing restrictions, complicate the EU's efforts. Policymakers must consider these precedents and address data security concerns, especially given recent data leaks. The fragmented approach to minimum age across member states also poses a challenge to achieving EU-wide consensus.
The expert panel's report places primary responsibility for minor safety on social media and digital service providers, with parents and caregivers in a secondary role. However, data suggests that parental involvement through existing control tools is low, with only 22% of European parents using them on average in 2020. The report's soft approach to parental involvement, focusing on digital literacy, is seen by some as insufficient, arguing that meaningful cultural change requires combining soft measures with hard obligations for both platforms and parents.