The European Commission says it will propose new rules to keep children off social media, after a major study found that heavy use is linked to mental health problems Engadget. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the formal proposal will come after the summer break.

The research, led by child psychologist Dr. Jörg M. Fegert and epidemiologist Dr. Maria Melchior, looked at how social media affects young people in Europe. It found that children spend four to six hours per day on these platforms. Nearly 60 percent of European children studied showed problems — including sleep loss, trouble concentrating, and higher rates of depression and anxiety — that were connected to their social media use Engadget.

The researchers suggest not letting children under 13 on social media unless a parent or teacher is there, limiting teenagers 13 to 18 to sites with safety features like caps on endless scrolling, and keeping children under 3 away from screens altogether.

Von der Leyen did not say exactly what form new rules would take. The Commission will review the study first, then present something concrete in the fall Engadget. This builds on work that started earlier: the Commission created a Special Panel on child safety online in March 2026 that looked at both general internet safety and the idea of age limits European Commission. The panel's final meeting was in June 2026, and a survey the Commission ran showed a clear link between social media use and wellbeing problems Digital Strategy.

Some European countries have not waited. A Child Protection Code took effect on 1 June 2026 that limits access to certain social media sites for people under 16 European Parliament. Belgium is also looking at banning social media for children under 15 Better Internet for Kids. According to the European Parliament, UNICEF counted almost 40 countries worldwide as of March 2026 that are discussing or putting in place age-based restrictions European Parliament.

Europe would not be the first place to do this. Australia passed the world's first social media ban for anyone under 16 in December 2025 RTÉ. In 2024, Florida required parental permission for children under 14 to use social media. France, Germany, and Spain are all studying their own rules Engadget.

There is a major technical obstacle. The EU already has a law — the Digital Services Act — that tells large social media platforms they must protect children from harm. An age ban or age check would need to fit with that law. A research group called Interface studied this problem and concluded that just checking ages or banning young users will not fix the real dangers to children online Interface. The reason is straightforward: kids often fake their birthdate to get on platforms, and it is hard to stop them. Also, even if you keep younger kids off a site, the site is still designed to keep people scrolling and scrolling because that is how the company makes money.

The real puzzle is: how do you check someone's age without building a system that tracks everyone like Big Brother? The EU could use digital ID cards or check age at the app store level. But doing this safely — without invading privacy — is tricky, especially under the EU's privacy rules. Right now, no one knows which idea the Commission will pick.

There is another problem. Social media platforms spend years designing features — like endless scrolling and automatic play — because they work: they get people to stay on the app longer. If the EU says teens 13 to 18 can only use sites with "safety features" that limit scrolling, that means the basic design of these apps is the issue, not just the age of the person using them. But most of the talk about age bans focuses only on keeping kids out, not on changing how the apps work. This is like trying to fix a speeding problem by stopping teenagers from driving, without making cars go slower.

What Europe does in the fall will show whether it is ready to change how platforms are designed — not just who gets to use them.