The presentation to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, of the report from the panel of experts tasked with contributing to the development of a European approach to ensure the safety of minors online is expected today, Monday, July 13. The Commission will then review the recommendations and define the next steps. Announced in the 2025 State of the Union speech, the group of experts – which includes professionals from multiple sectors, including neuroscience and children’s rights – met for the first time on March 5, 2026. At that time, the risks and benefits arising from minors’ use of social media and other online activities such as messaging apps or AI were examined. The discussion focused on several points, including addiction-generating algorithms and digital literacy.
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On April 15, the EU’s latest app for online age verification was presented, without the need to share personal information thanks to the “zero-knowledge proof” method. The following day, April 16, during the second meeting, the experts discussed the Union’s rules and initiatives to protect minors online, as well as approaches adopted elsewhere such as the ban on social media use imposed on under-16s in Australia. The third roundtable, on June 16, was prompted by the publication, on the same day, of a new Eurobarometer survey confirming the significant impact on young people’s mental and physical health caused by social media and excessive screen exposure.
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Almost one in three teenagers, in fact, reports feeling stressed, sad, or socially excluded because of social media, while 45% of the sample says they compare themselves to others while using the platforms. About a quarter of teenagers, finally, state they have encountered problematic content online, including hate speech. The Eurobarometer survey also shows the correlation between first access to social media and total time spent in front of screens: on weekends, it is more than seven hours for those who started using platforms before age 10, while for those who started after age 14 it is just under six hours. The Eurobarometer on the digital decade, an analysis conducted between February and March 2026, shows in this regard that for 92% of Europeans strengthening the protection of minors and young people online is an absolute political priority.
The debate, meanwhile, is intensifying: in early July the European Commission judged the French legislative proposal banning access to social networks for under-15s as not fully compatible with European law, in an opinion that will require Parliament to review the legislative proposal. The European executive considered that such a legislative proposal, if implemented in its current version, would interfere with the provisions of the European Digital Services Act. In April, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced the intention to ban social media for under-15s starting January 1, 2027. The proposal should become law by 2026 and would concern platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. In the United Kingdom, from spring 2027 minors under 16 will no longer be able to access social media and some features considered particularly risky for minors, such as live streaming or the possibility of being contacted by strangers, will be limited: this was announced on June 15, shortly before resigning, by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
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