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European Parliament backs 16+ age rule for social media

The European Parliament on Wednesday called for a Europe-wide minimum threshold of 16 for minors to access social media without their parents’ consent.

Parliament members also want the EU to hold tech CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk personally liable should their platforms consistently violate the EU’s provisions on protecting minors online — a suggested provision that was added by Hungarian social-democrat member Dóra Dávid, who previously worked for Meta.

The call for tougher rules on social media comes as several EU countries prepare more restrictions on social media for kids, following concerns about the effects on mental health and development of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and others. Australia is in the process of implementing an age limit of 16 for users of social media accounts.

The European Parliament backed an age limit in its report on how to better protect minors online, with 483 members voting in favor, 92 against and 86 abstaining.

The report called on the European Commission to ensure that laws and measures on age checks are consistent across the bloc. Several countries are rushing to develop their own national checks.

The bulk of the votes against and abstentions came from political groups on the right, who have argued that the report goes too far into EU countries’ competencies.

The report was led by Danish social-democrat Christel Schaldemose, who also led Parliament’s work on the Digital Services Act, the EU’s content moderation regulation.

The report could influence upcoming negotiations on EU law. The Commission is set to propose two legislative acts that will include heavy chunks on minor protections next year: the review of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive and a new Digital Fairness Act.

LP Staff Writers

Writers at Lord’s Press come from a range of professional backgrounds, including history, diplomacy, heraldry, and public administration. Many publish anonymously or under initials—a practice that reflects the publication’s long-standing emphasis on discretion and editorial objectivity. While they bring expertise in European nobility, protocol, and archival research, their role is not to opine, but to document. Their focus remains on accuracy, historical integrity, and the preservation of events and individuals whose significance might otherwise go unrecorded.

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