EU's Von der Leyen Floats Tighter Restrictions for Minors' Social Media Use
By Edith Hancock
The European Union could present new rules to tighten restrictions on minors' use of social media platforms this summer, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said.
Several countries are now trying to restrict young people's access to social media. Australia became the first country to ban individuals under 16 from using social networks in late 2025, while Greece plans to ban social media for people under 15 from next year. France is also planning to ban under-15s from social platforms later this year.
"They are being exposed at a moment when their resilience is only just beginning to grow, because they are still children," von der Leyen said at a conference in Copenhagen on Tuesday.
"We all know the consequences: sleep deprivation, depression, anxiety, self-harm, addictive behavior, cyberbullying, grooming, exploitation, suicide," she said, adding that the risks are compounded by the rapid uptake of artificial intelligence tools.
"I believe we must consider a social media delay," she said, saying that the commission could come with a legal proposal this summer.
The EU has also been developing an age-verification tool for member states and online platforms that the EU executive says enables users to prove that they are over 18 when they try to access age-sensitive content.
Von der Leyen said the risks to children are not accidental. "They are the result of business models that treat our children's attention as a commodity," she said.
Companies such as Meta Platforms have faced pressure to tighten controls on what young people can see when they use popular platforms like Meta's Instagram and Facebook. Instagram said in February it would alert parents if their children repeatedly searched for terms related to self-harm or suicide, and extended safeguards for teenagers' accounts to the EU's 27 member states and to Facebook in the U.S. in April.
Write to Edith Hancock at edith.hancock@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 12, 2026 08:15 ET (12:15 GMT)
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