Listen: Is it realistic to ban kids from social media?

France and several EU states want to ban social media for under-15s over mental health risks, but a lack of enforcement looms large. An e-ID system could enable age verification and revive debate on an EU-wide age limit.

Production: By Europod, in co-production with Sphera Network.

EUobserver is proud to have an editorial partnership with Europod to co-publish the podcast series “Long Story Short” hosted by Léa Marchal. The podcast is available on all major platforms.

You can find the transcript here if you prefer reading:

Kids under 15 should not access social media.

That’s how France sees it. Its government is pushing for a full ban below this age.

However, France cannot force social media platforms to effectively restrict access for kids. Only the European Union can.

Is the EU willing to do so?

Intensive use of social media platforms doubles the risk of mental health issues for kids under 15. This is what an American study conducted in 2019 showed.

The problem we are facing now is that teenagers spend, on average, almost four hours a day consuming social media content.

In France, the government is well on track to ban social media use for children under 15 years old.

And Paris is not alone. Other countries, such as Greece, Spain, and Denmark, have drafted similar laws, with differences regarding age limits and types of access.

For instance, the Greek system rather allows parents to authorise access to their children.

However, these laws or proposals sound like empty words. 

Because for now, none of these countries has a reliable, ready-to-use age-verification system that platforms can use to effectively grant — or deny — access.

This obstacle prevents the European Commission from fully doing its job and forcing social media platforms to comply with such rules.

Because the starting point in this discussion is that only the EU is competent to enforce new obligations for online platforms.

so you might wonder: does the EU want to help its member states in this fight?

Well, the European Commission has been working on the issue and has developed its own verification tool: the e-ID wallet.

It allows you to identify yourself easily on mobile apps, through a trusted platform, anywhere in the EU. 

Some countries including France and Spain, have been testing this tool, while the EU Commission is finalising guidelines. The challenge is making sure the identification platform is workable, and protects personal data.

The obligation for EU countries to provide an e-ID wallet will therefore only apply from next year.

If all goes well, every EU country will have an age-verification tool available by 2027, allowing social media platforms to use it to restrict access.

Does this solve everything?

Not precisely.

It would indeed make it possible for countries to adopt stricter rules on child protection.

But it would also create a situation in which some countries have age limits, and some do not. Plus, existing age restrictions would differ from one member state to another.

This brings me to the idea of a common age limit at EU level, which becomes relevant in this context.

And in fact, the debate is already well underway in Brussels.

No country openly opposes the idea. Some are a bit more cautious. They believe the issue needs to be carefully examined, based on solid scientific evidence.

Countries like Austria or Italy are calling for national specificities to be taken into account — in this case, precisely because they have lower age limits.

As is often the case in EU law-making, member states could find a compromise around the least ambitious option — for instance, setting the age at 13.

This would still allow some countries to impose higher age restrictions at national level.

But this is also how the EU has always functioned: finding common ground while preserving flexibility for each of its members.