BRUSSELS, May 12 – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Tuesday that the European Union is developing new rules to restrict social media companies’ operations as part of an effort to safeguard young users.
Speaking in Copenhagen, von der Leyen stated that harm to young people from social media platforms isn’t accidental “but the result of business models that treat our children’s attention as a commodity.”
The EU leader said her organization is focusing enforcement efforts on major platforms including TikTok, X, and Meta’s Instagram and Facebook properties.
“We are taking action against TikTok and its addictive design, endless scrolling, autoplay and push notifications. The same applies to Meta, because we believe Instagram and Facebook are failing to enforce their own minimum age of 13,” von der Leyen explained.
European officials have also initiated legal action against X regarding its Grok artificial intelligence system, which they say has been used to generate inappropriate sexual content involving women and minors.
Von der Leyen indicated that later this year, the Commission plans to address “addictive and harmful design practices” including “attention capture, complex contracts, subscription traps.”
The EU chief also supported implementing strict age restrictions that would prevent younger teenagers from accessing social media platforms entirely.
“The question is not whether young people should have access to social media, the question is whether social media should have access to young people,” she stated.
