EU to Push Age-Based Social Media Rules After Expert Report

Overview

• An expert panel delivered recommendations that Ursula von der Leyen embraced, and the Commission said it will present a legislative proposal after the summer based on those findings.
• The panel advised no screen time for babies, supervised and limited access for children under 13, and progressively autonomous access for 13-to-18-year-olds only if platforms offer strong safety tools and effective age verification.
• Brussels has already ordered major platforms to change addictive design features, telling Meta’s Facebook and Instagram to alter functions and issuing earlier warnings to TikTok under threat of fines.
• The United Kingdom has moved faster with a planned ban for under-16s, a default overnight block for 16–17 year-olds and default deactivation of addictive functions, citing a government study of 309 families that found better sleep and mood but also frequent circumvention.
• Key obstacles include reliable age checks, cross-border enforcement, and divided views among EU member states, which makes harmonizing rules difficult and will shape negotiations with the European Parliament.