Ursula von der Leyen has promised to push back against big tech and social media firms and protect children from online harm.
Speaking at the European Summit on Artificial Intelligence and Children in Copenhagen this morning, the President of the European Commission said:
“Children are not commodities, and no tech company in the world should be allowed to treat them as such. Children are children – with their dreams, their curiosity, their openness.”
A panel of experts is currently considering the case for clamping down on social media firms.
One option would be to impose a ban on children being able to access networks like X, Instagram and TikTok.
Australia already has what it calls a “social media delay” for under 16 year olds.
Von der Leyen said the legislation to do the same EU-wide could be ready soon after the panel of experts reports back with its advice this summer.
To support a possible ban, the European Commission has already developed a “privacy-first, open-source” age verification app.
Ireland is expected to be an early adopter of the app for public services. In case an age ban is agreed, the app could also be used for that.
A first version of the app was criticised for security flaws, but EU officials insist they are continually improving it.
The EU already has a Digital Services Act and a Digital Markets Act both of which put the onus on tech platforms to protect children.
“In Europe, whoever develops a product is responsible for its safety,” von der Leyen said.
“We do not have to accept addictive social media designs. We do not have to accept children being drawn into ever more extreme content. We do not have to accept that girls and women have their photos used for AI generated sexualised images. Europe has the power to act. It is us who decide our rules, not big tech,” she said.