Europe wants to protect teenagers from social media. And here's why

After Australia was the first in the world to ban social media for children under 16, European countries sharply intensified discussions on similar measures, citing the risks to the mental health of adolescents and the impact of toxic content. Different models of restrictions are already being formed in the European Union, from a complete ban to access with parental consent. Why the authorities want to protect teenagers from social networks is in the Izvestia article.

Attention to the problem

• Since December 10, Australia has been the first in the world to officially ban the use of social networks by children under the age of 16 (we wrote more about the reasons and reactions here). The law obliges the platforms themselves to check the age of users and prevent teenagers from registering, otherwise they face multimillion-dollar fines, while neither children nor parents are responsible. The largest social networks are subject to restrictions. The authorities believe that this will reduce the harm from toxic content and cyberbullying, while critics fear circumvention of locks, age verification errors and increased control over user data.

• The European debate on teenagers' access to social media has accelerated dramatically following Australia's decision. In France, the parliament supported restrictions on users under the age of 15, and shortly after that, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the need to protect children from what he called the digital wild West.

• The authorities rely on the findings of neuropsychologists, who point to a link between hours of scrolling or aggressive content and an increase in depressive states and other problems in adolescents. It is concern for the health and development of minors that is the main argument for tightening the rules.

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• The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, supported the idea of a pan-European age threshold comparable to the model already adopted in Australia. In parallel, a whole set of national initiatives is being formed within the European Union. In addition to France and Spain, similar measures are being discussed or are being prepared in Italy, Greece, Portugal, Denmark and some other countries.

• The options vary from a complete ban to a parental consent model. One of the most controversial issues is the practical implementation of age control, including the idea of a pan—European digital ID, which should confirm the user's age without disclosing personal data.

Degree of effectiveness

• The expert community emphasizes that the sarcasm of adolescents is associated with the very stage of growing up. While cognitive functions are still being formed (the process ends in 20-25 years, when the frontal lobes of the brain fully develop), the influence of algorithms and constant social comparison is especially strong, since critical thinking is still developing.

• However, prohibitions alone are not enough. The root of the problem lies in the work of the platforms themselves: endless scrolling, video autoplay, and algorithms that hold attention at all costs. The age barrier does not eliminate addiction, which does not disappear at 15 or 16 years old. Proponents of a tougher approach believe that frustration with the effectiveness of current pan-European norms, including the EU Law on Digital Services, is pushing states to take radical steps. Against this background, ideas about creating their own European digital platforms as an alternative to the dominance of American tech giants are becoming louder.

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• The authorities' desire to impose restrictions is being resisted by technology platforms and human rights activists, who point to economic losses and the displacement of teenagers into less regulated online spaces. Nevertheless, the discussion goes beyond the national framework: the European Union is increasingly seen as a level at which uniform rules for digital "coming of age" can be established.

The future of restrictions

• Most likely, there will not be a unified approach within Europe (we wrote about the main European contradictions here). The regulation of social media is the responsibility of individual states, and each country will make decisions based on its own social conditions and how teenagers use digital platforms. Therefore, it is not necessary to expect a pan-European standard in the near future. The EU countries are already moving in the same direction, but at different speeds and different age thresholds, and Brussels is likely to retain the right to independently determine the degree of strictness of regulation.

Banning social media for teenagers may well be part of a broader strategy to control digital platforms. The EU has already built a complex digital governance system, where supranational regulation is combined with national measures. The key frameworks are the Law on Digital Services and the Law on Digital Markets, which set common rules and require the creation of additional regulatory authorities in the member states. At the same time, the European Commission itself recognizes that regulation has become excessively strict in some places and is already affecting Europe's competitiveness, but the course towards strengthening oversight of platforms remains generally in place.

• The line between child protection and digital freedoms remains blurred, which is an extremely sensitive issue. It lies simultaneously in the field of law, ethics, morality and psychology, since the digital environment is a source of risk for some children, while for others it is an important space for communication and socialization. Therefore, decisions here cannot be made solely by lawyers or regulators: it is necessary to take into account the opinions of psychologists, doctors and child development specialists, as well as an understanding of the long-term humanitarian consequences of the influence of social networks on society.

When writing the material, Izvestia interviewed:

• Director of the Center for European Information, international political scientist Nikolai Topornin;
• Igor Semenovsky, a political scientist and associate professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.