Cabinet Backs EU-Wide Minimum Age for Social Media - DutchNews.nl
The plan would extend to video games and AI chatbots and use EU-level enforcement to avoid a patchwork of national rules, the countries said.
- On Friday, the Netherlands and Spain circulated a joint proposal urging an EU-wide minimum age for social media, extending restrictions to video games, AI chatbots, and other risky digital services.
- National fragmentation currently blunts the effectiveness of age restrictions, prompting the two countries to seek harmonized, EU-level enforcement as France and Denmark independently advance their own legislation.
- Junior digital economy minister Willemijn Aerdts noted 15 remains the Dutch position, emphasizing that privacy-friendly age verification should replace parental consent to protect children online.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to outline the bloc's strategy for limiting children's social media access during her State of the Union speech to the European Parliament next Wednesday.
- Privacy advocates worry about age verification feasibility, particularly as previous attempts by Brussels to implement such checks faced technical challenges and required security patches.
12 Articles
12 Articles
The Netherlands wants a minimum age for social media to be regulated at the European level. State Secretary Willemijn Aerdts, together with her Spanish counterpart, is urging the European Commission to introduce a minimum age quickly. As far as Aerdts is concerned, this should be 15 years, but no age is mentioned in the proposal from the Netherlands and Spain.
The Dutch government wants the European Digital Services Act (DSA) to be expanded to include a clear minimum age for the use of social…
Reformatorisch Dagblad
State Secretary Willemijn Aerdts (Digital Economy and Sovereignty) will join Spain in Brussels to request a minimum age for social media. The countries' proposal does not specify what that age should be. Aerdts is in favor of a minimum age of 15.
The Cabinet supports an age limit for social media use that is the same for all EU countries. Together with Spain, the Netherlands is making proposals to arrive at such a joint age limit. "Children and young people themselves indicate that they sometimes see harmful content, videos that keep them awake at night. And that they spend more time on it than they actually want," says State Secretary Aerdts. "More and more European countries also want…
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