On Wednesday 26 November, the European Parliament adopted by 483 votes to 92, with 86 abstentions, the own-initiative report by Christel Schaldemose (S&D, Danish) on the protection of minors online (see EUROPE 13732/9), the key measure of which is to ban minors under the age of 16 from social networking sites and to introduce an age verification mechanism for access to them.
The MEPs would like to see the EU harmonise the age limit for access to social networks, ideally at 16, but with possible derogations between 13 and 16 under parental supervision.
In particular, they are calling for “a ban on the most dangerous addictive practices and the deactivation by default of other functions considered addictive for minors” (in particular, infinite scrolling, automatic playback and ‘reward loops’).
MEPs are also urging the Commission to fully implement the legislation already in place, primarily the Digital Services Act (DSA), and to finally close the investigations launched against X and TikTok (see EUROPE 13632/2), a long-standing demand by several MEPs.
Christel Schaldemose said she was “proud” of the outcome of Parliament’s vote. “We are clearly telling the platforms: ‘Your services are not designed for children. And the experience ends there’”, she declared.
MEPs also call on the Commission to strengthen the protection of minors online through the DFA (Digital Fairness Act) and ask that “persuasive technologies used by online actors, such as targeted advertising, influence marketing, addictive design,loot boxes, in-app currencies, video games and dark patterns” be covered by this future legislative text.
The issue of banning minors from social networks is gaining ground in several Member States (see EUROPE 13728/1). France, in the vanguard, was the first to call for a European measure (see EUROPE 13732/11).
It is supported by Denmark, which has made it a priority for its term at the head of the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 13681/25). Spain has announced that it is preparing a bill to raise the minimum age for registering on a social network without parental consent from 14 to 16.
See the text voted by Parliament: https://aeur.eu/f/jo9 (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)