Debate on minors' access to social media networks begins with three EU countries

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Debate on minors' access to social media networks begins with three EU countries  France, Spain and Greece all support the idea of a minimum age limit to be able to access social networks.  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/06/11/debate-on-minors-access-to-social-media-networks-begins-with-three-eu-countries  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00The European debate on minors' access to social networks has begun.

00:10Three European Union member states, France, Spain and Greece,

00:13are putting forward the idea of a digital majority,

00:15an age below which it would be forbidden to connect to platforms.

00:19The aim is to protect teenagers and children from dangerous online content.

00:23The three countries believe that the algorithms used by social networks

00:49expose the very young to addictive content

00:51that can lead to increased anxiety or depression.

00:55They also argue that excessive exposure may limit the development of certain skills

00:59and alter cognitive abilities.

01:02The European Union has enacted legislation in the form of the Digital Services Regulation.

01:07The text tackles illegal content such as hate speech, terrorism and child pornography.

01:15For industry representatives, new legislation appears premature at this stage.

01:19At this stage, we think that the new rules need to first play out properly.

01:25We have not seen all the effects yet.

01:27The Digital Services Act for most companies has only entered into force last year.

01:31And as I said, we're still waiting for some guidance on the new minor protection obligations.

01:35That's why I think it's a little rushed at this stage to already discuss new rules.

01:39And I think it's also really important that we take much more into account the reality and the implications for minors in such a crude ban.

01:49The European Commission is currently working on an age verification application.

01:54Last month, it also published draft guidelines to protect minors.

01:58It proposes measures to verify the age of users or to set children's accounts to private by default.

02:03The institution is also conducting investigations against TikTok, Instagram and Facebook as part of its efforts to protect minors.

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