Netherlands and Spain seek EU rules for children’s social media access
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The governments of the Netherlands and Spain will jointly propose new regulations to the European Commission regarding children’s access to social media platforms.
Willemijn Aerdts, the Dutch Secretary of State for Digital Economy and Sovereignty, stated that social media networks do not adequately protect children from harmful and addictive content, necessitating a minimum age across the European Union. The two countries want a unified standard to ensure all children in EU member states receive the same level of protection.
Spain previously collaborated with France, Italy, and Germany on similar initiatives to safeguard minors online. The proposal asks for an independent European framework to assess the safety of digital services for children, placing the responsibility on platforms to prove their services are safe. Platforms that meet established safety standards could be exempt from the minimum age requirement. The Netherlands and Spain also want to avoid a fragmented landscape where each EU country implements different age limits for cross-border services.
They are prioritizing methods for verifying age that protect user privacy, favoring age verification systems over estimating age or accepting self-reported birthdates. The countries also aim to encourage the development of digital services specifically designed to be safe for children, rather than isolating them from the internet altogether.
