AFP, BRUSSELS
Children should have “phased and gradual access” to social media, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday, as experts recommended under 13s only use online platforms under supervision.The EU has been mulling a social media ban since a push by EU states, including Greece and France, for limiting access, with pressure intensifying for a bloc-wide ban like Australia.To help the EU take decisions based on evidence, Von der Leyen tasked an expert panel of doctors, academics, youth representatives and parents to advise the bloc. They delivered their recommendations yesterday.
From left, Jorg Fegert, director of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy at Ulm University Medical Center, listens to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, accompanied by French National Institute of Health and Medical Research director Maria Melchior pose following a press conference on the handover of the final report of the special panel on child safety online in Brussels yesterday.
“What we already have is a consensus that there needs to be a start date for the age children can join social media,” Von der Leyen said, calling for “age-appropriate restrictions.”“This is not about whether children can access social media. It is about whether and when social media can access our children,” she said.
