Von der Leyen sets the digital age of majority at 13 years

BrusselsThe European Commission maintains its intention to impose a digital age of majority, but lowers the age figure. After commissioning a study from a group of experts, the head of the Community executive, Ursula von der Leyen, announced this Monday that she will present a proposal to limit the use of social networks for young people and that it will prohibit minors under 13 years of age from opening an account without the supervision of their parents or legal guardian.

On previous occasions, the President of the European Commission had already expressed her predisposition to limit access to social networks for young people, but she had cited the case of Australia, which has a digital age of majority at 16 years old. The vast majority of member states that have pressured Brussels to move forward with this measure also advocate for a higher figure than that proposed by Von der Leyen. France, for example, intends to set it at 15 years and Spain at 16. Even if this threshold of 13 years is set at the EU level, member states will retain the capacity to set it later.

The group of experts consulted by the European Commission consider that the most delicate years for psychological development are between 10 and 13 years old. And, from that age, as they assure that the case of Australia confirms, it is much more complicated to control adolescents and ensure that they do not evade parental control.

Be that as it may, the President of the European Commission has maintained her defense of the application of a digital age of majority and has compared it to other age restrictions. "Just as we do not give our children the keys to the car before they have a driving license, or do not allow them to buy alcohol until they are of legal age to do so, we must also establish the age from which children can legally access social networks," pointed out Von der Leyen.

Beyond the age of digital majority, the European Union is studying and applying various measures to protect young people from the negative effects that the use of social networks can have. Not going any further, Brussels last week demanded that the Instagram and Facebook platforms – belonging to the large American technology company Meta – put an end to their addictive design and, among others, automatic video playback or scrolling — in English, scroll— infinite content.