Limiting access to social networks for minors: France and Greece lead the offensive in Europe

Supported by France and Spain, Greece has proposed regulating children's use of online platforms, amid concerns about their addictive nature. These countries are due to present their ideas this Friday at a ministerial meeting in Luxembourg. "Europe must be able to act appropriately as soon as possible," said Greek Digital Minister Dimitris Papastergiou.

The proposal includes setting an EU-wide digital age of majority, below which children would not be able to access social media without parental consent.

Since its publication last month, other countries have expressed support, including Denmark, which will hold the six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council starting in July and has promised to make this issue a priority. France has been at the forefront of platform regulation, with a law passed in 2023 requiring platforms to obtain parental consent from users under 15. But this measure has not yet received the necessary EU approval.

France also introduced a requirement this year for pornographic sites to verify users' ages to prevent children from accessing them. This measure led three of them—Youporn, Pornhub, and Redtube—to go offline this week in protest. Under pressure from the French government, TikTok also banned the hashtag #SkinnyTok, which promotes extreme thinness , on Sunday.

Greece says its goal is to protect children from the risks associated with excessive internet use. The proposal does not specify what age should be set as the digital majority, but Dimitris Papastergiou believes that platforms must know the real age of their users "so as not to offer inappropriate content to minors."

France, Greece, and Spain are denouncing algorithms that expose children to addictive content that can exacerbate anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. These countries are also concerned about early screen exposure, which is suspected of hindering the development of children's interpersonal skills and other essential learning.

The authors of the proposal call for "an EU-wide application that supports parental control mechanisms, enables proper age verification, and restricts the use of certain applications by minors." They would like devices such as smartphones to integrate an age verification system.

The European Commission, the EU's digital watchdog, plans to launch an age-verification app as early as next month, with assurances that it would not involve the disclosure of personal data. In May, the EU published interim guidelines for platforms to better protect minors. They are due to be finalized this month following a public consultation.

These non-binding guidelines currently include setting children's accounts to private mode by default, as well as simplifying blocking and muting options. Brussels is currently investigating the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram owned by the US group Meta, as well as TikTok, under its new Digital Services Regulation (DSA).