European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday called for a sweeping ban on social media access for children under 13 across the 27-nation bloc, alongside new restrictions for older teenagers, as part of a broader push to shield young users from online harms.
In her annual State of the European Union address in Strasbourg, von der Leyen argued that the dominance of Big Tech is not inevitable. "I am aware that many perceive the power of Big Tech as overwhelming and impossible to roll back. I disagree," she said. "We do not have to accept addictive features. We do not have to accept children being drawn into ever more extreme content. We do not have to accept that girls have their photos used for AI-generated sexualized images."
The proposal, which still requires approval from EU member states and could take years to implement, would create "mini accounts" for 13-to-15-year-olds, supervised by guardians and with limits on features and screen time. For those aged 15 to 18, platforms would be required to offer a "safe design," according to von der Leyen. Further details are expected on Thursday.
The move is likely to escalate tensions with Washington, as U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized European tech regulations. Some European lawmakers welcomed the confrontation. Brando Benifei, an Italian member of the European Parliament, said, "To apply this, you need to confront in a very frontal way the interests of platforms and Big Tech who are not happy with this."
Von der Leyen had hinted at the plan earlier this year, suggesting that children should be introduced to social media in a "phased and gradual" way. Currently, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok already ban under-13s, but enforcement has been widely criticized as inadequate.
However, digital rights advocates argue the proposal misses the root problem. Simeon de Brouwer, a policy advisor at EDRi, said the plan "merely delays young people's exposure to the risks of online harm instead of addressing the business model and extractive practices which fuel it." He warned that platforms will "unavoidably target them as soon as they're a day older than the threshold."
The EU initiative is part of a global trend. Spain and Portugal have already taken national steps to restrict teen social media use, while Australia and New Zealand have implemented similar measures. France, however, faced a setback when its top court struck down a law banning under-15s from social media, citing fundamental freedoms. President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to revise the proposal.
In the United States, Meta Platforms recently agreed to pay up to $18 billion and strengthen child-safety measures on Facebook and Instagram to settle lawsuits over teen addiction. The EU proposal could also influence debates in Washington, where lawmakers have been scrutinizing tech companies' impact on minors.
Manfred Weber, leader of the European Parliament's largest group, suggested the EU should follow Australia's lead in allowing users to disable social media algorithms. "Elon Musk will not like it, but probably that is a reason for doing it," he quipped.
Von der Leyen also touched on artificial intelligence, saying the commission would engage with leading AI companies to discuss slowing down advanced AI development. She announced plans to collaborate with "like-minded partners" such as Canada and Britain on model evaluation, verification, early warning, and AI security.
