Access to social media and tackling cyberbullying: the EU wants to harmonise the rules
The aim is to create a safe digital environment for young people. All eyes are on the European age-verification app and the expert group’s findings
Key points
Until now, the Old Continent has taken a piecemeal approach, but now that the debate on children’s access to social media involves numerous countries around the world, the European Union’s objective is clear: to harmonise the rules, including through the introduction of an app that verifies the age of those wishing to access the platforms, and to provide a clear, regulatory and binding definition of one of the most widespread risks in the digital ecosystem: cyberbullying.
In two studies published in June, the European Parliament sought to summarise these two issues, recognising the impact that social media can have on citizens’ behaviour, both online and offline, particularly among younger people.
The approach taken by EU members
Australia took the lead in implementing a series of restrictions on the indiscriminate use of social media in December 2025, followed by an ever-increasing number of countries both within and outside Europe. With the exception of Latvia and Malta, all EU countries have draft legislation, amendments, government initiatives, consultations and recommendations in progress that set a specific age for access to social media: these range from the most permissive Belgium, which sets the minimum age at 13 years, to Bulgaria, Ireland, Spain, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia, which raise the age limit to 16 years. Outside the EU, Canada, Norway, South Korea and Great Britain are discussing banning access to social media for under-16s. Indonesia and Malaysia are further ahead: they have already passed laws and are implementing the restrictions. The challenge for all countries is ensuring that the rules are followed: as demonstrated by the Australian case shows, there are numerous ways in which young people manage to circumvent the bans and continue using social media, without deriving any benefit from the introduction of regulations designed to protect them.
The European regulatory framework
The EU’s regulatory framework currently includes a number of useful instruments for the protection of users within the digital ecosystem, such as the GDPR, the DSA and eIDAS, AVMSD; however, since last year, there has been an increase in calls and initiatives from European bodies for greater harmonisation of regulations on the protection of minors online.
In October 2025, ministers from 25 Member States adopted a joint ministerial declaration – the Jutland Declaration – calling for ‘stronger and more targeted protection’ of children online, supporting the adoption of ‘effective and privacy-respecting systems for age verification on social media and other relevant digital services’ and calling for further consideration of a ‘digital age of majority’. In a resolution passed in November 2025, the Parliament had, in turn, called for the minimum age for access to digital services in the EU to be set at 16. For those aged between 13 and 16, access to social media platforms would be permitted subject to parental consent.
