A report unveiled in Brussels on Monday by a specialist EU advisory panel on online child safety argues that children under 13 should only be permitted to use social media under parental or educational supervision.
The proposal coincides with an announcement by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that the EU executive will introduce legislative measures on children’s social media consumption following the summer recess.
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Panel’s Recommendations on Children’s Social Media Use
The committee—comprising medical professionals, academics, youth delegates, and parents—outlined several additional guidelines in its findings:
- Infants and toddlers should be kept away from all screens.
- Children aged three to 12 should only engage with age-appropriate social media and devices under supervision.
- Adolescents between 13 and 18 should be granted gradually increasing independent access to platforms that incorporate essential safety features.
Von der Leyen: Children Require Real-World Experience
Addressing the presentation event, von der Leyen—who initiated the panel—advocated for implementing “age-appropriate restrictions” through a “phased and gradual” approach.
“Our children need time in the real world. Time to play, time to build friendships, time to make mistakes. Time to shape their own identity, their own personality, before an algorithm shapes them instead,” von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels.
“This is not about whether children can access social media. It is about whether and when social media can access our children,” she said.
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Australia Referenced as Template for Age Restrictions
While several member states, such as Germany, are considering imposing minimum age requirements for social media, effective and lawful implementation would probably require action at the European Union level.
This stems from the EU’s responsibility for regulating major online platforms and the requirement that national laws remain aligned with EU statutes.
Recently, von der Leyen has expressed apprehension regarding social media’s effects on young people and highlighted Australia as a potential benchmark.
By the end of 2025, Australia had become the first nation to enact a minimum age for social media access, though the efficacy and advantages of the policy remain widely contested.
Under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), social media corporations are already mandated to implement child-safeguarding measures; however, specialists argue that enforcement of these provisions remains insufficient.
Last week, the European Commission determined that Meta—parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp—violated DSA regulations due to the addictive nature of its platforms and the consequent harm to users, particularly minors.