EU Moves to Ban Social Media for Children Under 13

The European Union will ban social media for children under 13 and permit only limited, supervised access until the age of 15, under plans unveiled on Wednesday by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. The Local Italy reported the announcement, quoting von der Leyen's line that "Europe has power to act" — a deliberate echo of the bloc's recent willingness to regulate digital platforms directly rather than leave the matter to member states.

The proposal would set a common floor across the 27 member states, replacing a patchwork in which some countries enforce age verification loosely and others not at all. The Local's report describes the measure as covering under-13s with a full ban and 13-to-15-year-olds with restricted, supervised access. It does not detail the verification mechanism, the penalties for platforms, or the legislative timetable, and those elements should be treated as unsettled until the Commission publishes the full text.

The announcement places the EU ahead of most national governments on the question of minors and social platforms, and it follows a period in which several member states, including Italy, have debated their own restrictions. The Commission's framing — that the bloc has both the competence and the will to legislate — signals that it intends the measure to be European rather than national in scope.