The Co-Chairs of the Special Panel on Child Safety Online, created by the European Commission, the child and adolescent psychiatrist Jorg Fegert and epidemiologist and Inserm research director Maria Melchior, presented their report containing 39 recommendations to the Commission on Monday 13 July. Among the main recommendations, the experts advise that children under the age of three should avoid screens and ‘social media+’, that children aged three to 12 should not be allowed to use devices providing Internet access without supervision — hence the recommendation to introduce an EU-wide restriction on access to ‘social media+’ for those under 13 — and that adolescents aged 13 to 18 should have access only to social media and other digital services “that are age-appropriate and safe by default”.
The recommendations are intended to reconcile the need to protect children and adolescents online with their right to participate in society and benefit from the opportunities offered by “social media+”, meaning not only social media platforms, but also app stores, video games and artificial intelligence-based recommendations.
“It is clear that we need age-appropriate restrictions to platforms”, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference with the Co-Chairs of the Special Panel.
Ms von der Leyen stressed that “ultimately, it is up to parents to decide when children get their first smartphones”. “What we already have is a consensus that there needs to be a start date for the age children can join social media”, she warned, while considering the approach proposed by the Co-Chairs of the Special Panel to be “very convincing”. And, “we will carefully review this report and the recommendations and present a proposal after the summer”.
She insisted that “the risks to which they are exposed on the internet know neither borders nor limits linked to the national decisions of the Member States” and advocated “harmonising the approach and finding a common solution”.
Several European Union Member States are already engaged in legislative processes aimed at setting a minimum age for access to social media and certain other digital services. France is proposing to set that limit at 15, on the basis of a blacklist of prohibited services. Greece is also considering a threshold of 15 for online social media services, while Denmark is considering a restriction for those under 16, with the possibility of lowering that age with parental consent. Germany is looking at setting the limit at 13. Spain has announced its intention to ban access to social media platforms for minors under 16. Poland, Sweden and Portugal are also considering introducing age limits. By contrast, Estonia, alongside Finland, has been among the Member States most opposed to general restrictions, insisting on the need to preserve freedoms and instead strengthen media literacy.
According to the report, “harmonised rules on an EU-wide minimum age of 13 would contribute to the proper functioning of the Single Market by ensuring a single compliance framework for providers”. According to one panel expert, “additional precautionary restrictions specific to each country for young people over 13 could encourage platforms to provide safe-by-design solutions very quickly”.
No total ban, target addictive features. Asked why the panel had not recommended a total ban on social media, the expert replied that “a complete ban will not resolve problems related to development and social interactions, which are now largely shaped by new techniques and technologies”. He stressed the need to “focus efforts on the addictive features” of platforms.
This is why the report recommends introducing age assurances making it possible to establish users’ ages and ensure integrated safety by design that is age-appropriate, whether through age verification or age estimation. It also recommends extending and harmonising the rules relating to the main safety features in the design of social media and other digital services. “Children under 13 should not be allowed to create an individual account”, one of the experts said.
The report also recommends strengthening complaints mechanisms and consumer rights for children and adolescents, as well as systematically incorporating digital education and digital literacy for minors, parents, legal guardians and teachers.
The report was drafted in three and a half months by the co-chairs following three meetings of the Special Panel, bringing together representatives from academia, the legal field, psychology and education, as well as independent experts in technology regulation and representatives of civil society.
The European Commission refrained from confirming whether it intends to present a standalone regulation or incorporate its proposal into the future Digital Fairness Act, an option mentioned by Commissioner Michael McGrath (see EUROPE 13865/14).
“Platforms must remove features that foster addiction, manipulation and exposure to harmful content or contacts”, said the European Parliament rapporteur on the ‘Impact of Social Media and the Online Environment on Young People’, Sandro Ruotolo (S&D, Italian).
The Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), which represents small and medium-sized tech enterprises, stressed that any future measure should draw a distinction “between large social media and other digital services”, recalling that “the start-ups and SMEs also develop educational applications and interactive learning tools; future regulations should not impose excessive burdens on these small innovation players”.
According to the findings of the Eurobarometer published on 13 July, 63% of Europeans want European rules to be adopted limiting children’s access to social media according to their age, either through a total ban below a certain age (36%) or through delayed access (27%), while 13% prefer to leave supervision to parents and schools, without further intervention by the European Union. (Original version in French by Ana Pisonero Hernández)