European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen admitted today that she may present a legislative proposal as early as this summer to ensure children only access social media at an older age, following consultations with industry experts.
“We know we must do more, which is why we created a special panel of experts on online child safety to advise us. Without preempting the panel’s conclusions, I believe we should consider delaying children’s access to social media and, depending on the results, we could present a legislative proposal this summer,” von der Leyen stated.
Speaking at the opening of a European Summit on Artificial Intelligence and Children in Copenhagen, Denmark, the President highlighted the “lightning speed at which technology advances and how it infiltrates every corner of childhood and adolescence.”
Ursula von der Leyen noted that discussions regarding a minimum age for social media can no longer be ignored, as nearly all EU Member States are requesting an assessment of such a measure. Currently, many EU countries set 15 or 16 as the age requirement.
Read more about this topic: Greece to ban social media for children under 15 (with video)
In Portugal, the parliament passed a bill in February 2026 restricting social media access for those under 16. The new regulations require express parental consent for youths between 13 and 16 and prohibit use before age 13 to protect against digital risks and addictive content. The European Parliament has previously supported the idea of a European minimum age of 16 for social media access, with exceptions for parental authorization between ages 13 and 16.
“The question is not whether young people should have access to social media; the question is whether social media should have access to young people,” von der Leyen emphasized. She argued that childhood and early adolescence are formative years and that children should be given more time to develop resilience during this vulnerable stage.
“Time to play with real friends and not chase followers. Time on the football pitch or playing in a band. Time to develop their own ideas instead of being guided by an algorithm. Time to learn the difference between reality and falsehood. Therefore, let us give childhood back to children,” she listed.
In her State of the Union address in September 2025, von der Leyen defended the need to protect children and adolescents from the impacts of social media, entertaining the establishment of age limits and stricter rules for digital platforms.
Read more about this topic: Austria bans social media for under-14s
In mid-April of this year, the European Commission launched a new European mobile application to verify minimum age requirements for social media access. The app is technically ready and will soon be available across the EU, with a warning that there will be “zero tolerance” for digital platforms that fail to implement it.
The initiative seeks to hold online platforms accountable for protecting minors, targeting tech giants such as Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads), Alphabet (which owns YouTube), ByteDance (TikTok), and Snap Inc. (Snapchat).
