EU Proposes Social Media Ban for Children Under 13

EU Proposes Bloc-Wide Social Media Ban for Children Under-13s 13

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Above: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers her annual State of the Union address at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, on Sept. 16. Image credit: Jean-Christophe VERHAEGEN/AFP via Getty Images

The Spin

Big tech has captured childhood itself, hooking kids on feeds engineered to keep them scrolling for four to six hours aevery day while parents watch the fallout in lost sleep, anxiety, self-harm and even suicide. Enough is enough; — no social media under 13, supervised mini accounts until 15 and safe design obligations after that. Platforms must prove they're safe, because Europe writes the rules, not Silicon Valley.

European Commission on X European Commission

Mandatory age checks mean every adult in Europe hands over a photo ID or a face scan just to log on, effectively killing online privacy for everyone in the name of protectingchild kidsprotection. Age gates, however, are no silver bullet, anywayas — blocking access until 15 doesn't fix predatory, addictive, manipulative design,; it just delays the exposure. The real fix is forcing platforms to be safe, not building a bloc-wide identity checkpoint.

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Metaculus Prediction

There is an 8% chance that the EU will require mandatory age verification on social media or AI before 2027, according to the Metaculus prediction community.