The European Union will propose limits on children’s access to social media, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday, the latest attempt by Brussels to rein in the platforms.
What Was Said
Von der Leyen framed the move as protection for minors, signalling a bloc-wide push to set boundaries on how and when children can use services from the likes of Meta, TikTok and Instagram. The announcement comes as EU regulators have already threatened Meta with fines over addictive features on Facebook and Instagram, and as France sends water-bombers to tackle a wildfire raging near Paris amid a continent-wide heatwave.
The Two-Week Doctrine
As with every sweeping Brussels initiative, the specifics — the age threshold, the enforcement mechanism, the carve-outs — remain two weeks from a draft law. Lawmakers and member states will then spend the better part of a year arguing over them, by which point the platforms will have shipped three updates and a new feature nobody asked for.