EU minimum age for social media: Von der Leyen backs 13-year threshold, phased access for minors

The European Commission president today unveiled a roadmap to shield minors from the harms of social media, backing a recommended EU-wide minimum age of 13 for unsupervised access and a phased system that starts with the youngest children seeing no screens at all. Ursula von der Leyen presented the findings of a panel of experts she convened in 2025 and pledged to deliver a binding legislative proposal after the summer.

We do not give children the keys to the car before they have a licence and we do not allow them to buy alcohol before the legal age. In the same way we must establish the age at which minors can legally access social media.

Expert panel findings

The expert group, chaired by child psychiatrist Joerg Fegert of the University of Ulm and INSERM research director Maria Melchior, catalogued a list of harms linked to unrestricted platform use. Depression, anxiety, concentration problems, sleep disorders and, for the youngest, language development delays are among the consequences listed in the report delivered to the Commission. Excessive social media use, defined as more than three hours per day, is associated with higher rates of mental health difficulties, and the panel warns that already vulnerable minors tend to use the platforms in even more problematic ways. Across Europe, young people now spend between four and six hours a day staring at screens, von der Leyen noted, amounting to the equivalent of 20 years of a lifetime.

The proposed framework

At the heart of the Commission’s emerging plan is a graduated, age-based access regime. For the smallest children the rule would be no screens. For those under 13, social media access would be allowed only under the supervision of parents, guardians or teachers and for limited periods. From 13 onwards, access would be phased according to the proof provided by the platforms that their services are age-appropriate. The same stepwise model would apply to adolescents. Von der Leyen stressed that the principle of safety by design, already embedded in the Digital Services Act, must be enforced so that platforms carry the burden of showing they do no harm, particularly to the most vulnerable users. A new European age verification app, described as simple, privacy-respecting and open source, is intended to give parents more control over their children’s online entry points.

The question is not whether children can access social media, but whether and when social media can access our children.

Legislative timeline and political reactions

The Commission will now examine the panel’s recommendations and present a legislative proposal after the summer, likely in September around the time of von der Leyen’s State of the Union address. The Renew Europe group has already called for a public health emergency declaration. MEP Sandro Gozi (Renew) welcomed the announcement, calling for a binding European law because “the protection of our children cannot be left to a mosaic of 27 national rules, nor to platform algorithms.” Fellow MEP Sandro Ruotolo (PD) insisted that the responsibility for the safety of children and adolescents must lie first and foremost with those who design and manage digital platforms, and urged that decisions be guided by scientific evidence. A potential legislative battle, however, is already in sight. Danish social democrat Christel Schaldemose argued that the minimum age should be 15, not 13, noting that 13 is already the age required by most major platforms’ terms of service and that EU legislation should not merely codify what platforms already claim to enforce.

Big Tech accountability and existing tools

Von der Leyen cited ongoing Commission enforcement actions against TikTok, for allegedly addictive design, and Meta as proof that the DSA already gives regulators a duty-of-care framework. Under that law, platforms must demonstrate their services do not cause harm, particularly to vulnerable groups. The new measures would force platforms to eliminate features that foster addiction, manipulation or exposure to harmful content and contacts. The approach has been informed by national experiments; von der Leyen said the Commission will examine with great attention all the different proposals put forward by the various member states, integrate them and then present a proposal to harmonise the approach. Countries including Greece, Denmark and France, as well as Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia, have already taken steps, creating a patchwork the Commission wants to replace with a single European standard.

What happens next

The president acknowledged that the new rules would not eliminate all risks overnight but compared the expected cultural shift to the gradual adoption of mandatory seatbelt laws. Childhood does not wait, and once it’s gone, we cannot get it back, she said. The Commission is also considering extending age restrictions to other digital services and will start work on identifying which platforms pose the greatest risks to minors. Von der Leyen made clear the political urgency: if we continue to allow Big Tech unlimited access to our children, we will be condemning another generation to further psychological harm, addiction and suffering.