Von der Leyen hints social media ban and age verification possible by summer

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that raising the social media age limit across the European Union is on the table, and a proposal could come as soon as this summer.

"I believe we must consider a social media delay," von der Leyen said at a conference in Copenhagen on how to protect children in the age of artificial intelligence. "Depending on the results, we could come up with a legal proposal this summer."

Von der Leyen said she didn't want to pre-empt the findings of a panel of experts currently deliberating on child safety online. Several countries, including France, have taken the initiative to raise the social media age limit to 15 or pushed for an EU-wide solution on the matter.

"Childhood and early adolescence are formative years, and I believe we should give our children more time to become resilient in this vulnerable phase," von der Leyen said.

The Commission president argued that the EU can learn from "pioneer" Australia, which has already raised the minimum age for social media use to 16.

Raising the age limit would not mean that tech companies are off the hook, the Commission president said, as she pushed tech firms to make their platforms safe "by design," as obligated under the bloc's platform law, the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Restricting access to social media for certain ages depends on "reliable age verification," von der Leyen said, pointing to the recently released EU age-verification app.

That app got a lot of criticism for having glaring security issues, but von der Leyen insisted in Copenhagen that it "ticks all the boxes."

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