EU drafts under-13 social media ban for September — largest child limit to date, and Meta's second regulatory hit in a week
TL;DR
EU drafting September bill banning under-13 social media, 13-18 restricted to platforms with safety features — the largest child limitation to date if passed.
The European Union is drafting a bill that would ban children under 13 from using social media, with the formal proposal expected in September. The accompanying expert report proposes tiered restrictions: under 13 no social media unless supervised by a parent or teacher; 13-18 restricted to platforms with safety features; under 3 no screen exposure at all.
If passed, this becomes the largest child social-media restriction in the world — the EU's under-18 population is roughly 18% of ~450 million, covering over 80 million. Existing similar bans include Australia (under-16 blanket ban, live since December 2025), Denmark (under-15 with parental consent), and France (under-15 with parental authorization). Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands are drafting their own.
The EU's approach is more granular than Australia's — Australia used a hard cut with platforms carrying full verification responsibility; the EU tiered proposal leaves a lane for "safety-featured platforms" to serve 13-18-year-olds, which effectively gives Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram a shackled path forward. In practice, platforms would have to rebuild age verification, content filtering, and time-management systems.
After September introduction, the draft enters the EU's ordinary legislative procedure (European Parliament plus Council), which typically runs 12-18 months. TikTok and Meta are already lobbying — they hold the most European child users. Meta was just hit on July 10 with a preliminary DSA finding on "addictive design" carrying a potential $12 billion fine. This under-age ban is the second blade in a week.
The EU's pace here is unusual — two major regulatory actions on adjacent themes within two months on the same industry. Brussels has drawn a wide line against attention-economy product architecture.
via The New York Times
If passed, this becomes the largest child social-media restriction in the world — the EU's under-18 population is roughly 18% of ~450 million, covering over 80 million. Existing similar bans include Australia (under-16 blanket ban, live since December 2025), Denmark (under-15 with parental consent), and France (under-15 with parental authorization). Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands are drafting their own.
The EU's approach is more granular than Australia's — Australia used a hard cut with platforms carrying full verification responsibility; the EU tiered proposal leaves a lane for "safety-featured platforms" to serve 13-18-year-olds, which effectively gives Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram a shackled path forward. In practice, platforms would have to rebuild age verification, content filtering, and time-management systems.
After September introduction, the draft enters the EU's ordinary legislative procedure (European Parliament plus Council), which typically runs 12-18 months. TikTok and Meta are already lobbying — they hold the most European child users. Meta was just hit on July 10 with a preliminary DSA finding on "addictive design" carrying a potential $12 billion fine. This under-age ban is the second blade in a week.
The EU's pace here is unusual — two major regulatory actions on adjacent themes within two months on the same industry. Brussels has drawn a wide line against attention-economy product architecture.
via The New York Times
