BRUSSELS — The European Union plans fresh regulations to shield children from social media’s addictive features on platforms like TikTok, Meta, and X, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced May 12 in Copenhagen.
“Sleep deprivation, depression, anxiety, self-harm, addictive behavior, cyberbullying, grooming, exploitation, suicide, these risks multiply rapidly,” von der Leyen warned. “They’re the digital world’s reality, not accidents, but outcomes of business models commodifying children’s attention.”
The upcoming Digital Fairness Act (DFA), slated for late 2026, will zero in on “addictive and harmful design practices” and impose tight AI limits on social platforms. It also eyes a minimum age for access, with a potential summer proposal based on expert advice.
“The question isn’t whether youth should access social media, but whether social media should access youth,” she stated. The DFA builds on the Digital Services Act, which mandates big tech’s fight against illegal and harmful content.
Ongoing probes target TikTok’s endless scrolling, autoplay, and notifications; Meta’s Instagram and Facebook for lax 13-year-old age enforcement; and X for its Grok AI generating sexual images of women and children. Company spokespeople offered no immediate comment.