Overview
- The European Commission is preparing to unveil a draft law that would set who may use social networks and how, and it is due to present a concrete proposal the day after the announcement.
- Reportedly the draft would set staged rules: children under 13 only access services under parental or teacher supervision, 13–14 may use limited 'starter' accounts, and 15 and older could open full accounts.
- The Commission would enforce the new rules and can fine platforms that fail to meet the requirements, building on existing Digital Services Act proceedings against major tech firms.
- Planned age checks rely on technical tools such as a national digital ID stored in an E‑Wallet or an EU-developed phone app; security testers say prototypes were hacked and simple workarounds like VPNs can still bypass age blocks.
- Civil-society and data-protection groups warn the measures could be disproportionate, raise privacy and security risks, and restrict young people’s online participation while some governments, including Germany, plan interim national protections.