EU experts recommend restricting social media access for children under 13
EU experts recommend restricting social media access for children under 13 across EU states, urging parental oversight, staged access and stronger safeguards.
The panel of experts commissioned by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has recommended that social media access for children under 13 be restricted across all EU member states, with use permitted only under parental supervision or in defined educational settings. The report proposes a staged approach to online access, calling for standard safety defaults and time limits for younger users. It also advises that children under two avoid digital social platforms entirely.
Panel outlines staged access and strict defaults
The experts argue that access should increase progressively with age and maturity, with 13 seen as a baseline for more independent use of age-appropriate social media services. Jörg Fegert, co-author of the report and director of child and adolescent psychiatry at Ulm University Hospital, said platforms should implement default safety settings tailored to younger adolescents. The document recommends that safeguards be built in by design rather than left to individual parents or settings.
Parental oversight and educational contexts emphasized
Under the panel’s proposals, children below 13 would only be allowed on social platforms under direct parental control or within a supervised, pedagogical framework. Time limits and monitored interactions were highlighted as necessary to reduce exposure to harmful content and addictive design features. The experts stressed that parental controls should be robust, easy to use, and complemented by platform-level protections.
Commission signals legislative follow-up after summer
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Commission will study the report carefully and intends to table a formal proposal after the summer months. The president framed the recommendations as part of broader efforts to tighten rules on minors’ online exposure and to harmonize protections across the internal market. Details of any draft measures were not disclosed at the report’s presentation.
Legal consequences for member states and platform enforcement
The report underscores that while member states can set higher age limits, they cannot impose conflicting rules that run counter to EU law governing cross-border platform obligations. The Commission retains the power to require online services to enforce age limits technically, rather than leaving enforcement solely to national authorities. The panel highlights that France’s earlier draft to ban under-15s from social media may need adjustment to align with EU competence in digital regulation.
Existing EU law and platform obligations referenced
Experts point to the Digital Services Act and specifically Article 28 on online protection of minors as the legal framework obliging platforms to take “appropriate and proportionate measures.” Major services such as YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat already fall under the DSA and must follow the Commission’s guidance on protecting minors. The report calls for firmer, consistent enforcement of those obligations and notes that many platforms currently rely on a 13-plus internal age threshold driven by data-protection rules.
Recommendations on enforcement and technical checks
The panel recommends that technical age-verification and default privacy protections be deployed more consistently, while warning against invasive profiling methods that would violate privacy rights. Experts favor solutions that balance accuracy with children’s rights, such as parental attestations and secure age-assertion systems that do not create detailed profiles. They also urge faster Commission action when platforms fail to implement required safeguards, noting ongoing enforcement cases against major operators.
Implications for Germany and national policymaking
For Germany, the report is likely to shape domestic debate because EU-level measures would influence what platforms must do across the bloc. German authorities retain the right to recommend or require parental oversight domestically, but they cannot impose technical obligations on platforms beyond what EU law allows. The report’s authors and von der Leyen both framed stronger, harmonized rules as a way to close enforcement gaps between member states while allowing national governments to opt for stricter protections where desired.
The expert panel’s recommendations set a clear direction for policymakers: adopt a minimum age threshold with supervised early access, require platform-level safety defaults, and strengthen enforcement under existing EU digital law. Lawmakers and platforms now face the task of translating those principles into workable technical standards and legal rules in the months ahead.
