EU targets social media to protect children, von der Leyen says

FILE PHOTO: Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and Reddit applications are displayed on a mobile phone in this picture illustration taken on Dec 9, 2025. REUTERS

The European Union is working on regulations to reign in on social media's business models to protect children and youth, European Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.

The many damages caused to children and youth by exposure to social media are no accident "but the result of business models that treat our children's attention as a commodity," she said in a speech in Copenhagen.

She added the EU is specifically targeting TikTok, X and Meta Platforms Instagram and Facebook.

"We are taking action against TikTok and its addictive design, endless scrolling, autoplay and push notifications. The same applies to Meta, because we believe Instagram and Facebook are failing to enforce their own minimum age of 13," she said.

The Commission has also started proceedings against X for the use of its Grok artificial intelligence tool in creating sexual images of women and children.

Later this year, the Commission will target "addictive

and harmful design practices" such as "attention capture, complex contracts, subscription traps", she said.

Von der Leyen also advocated for strict rules banning social media access for teenagers younger than a certain age.

"The question is not whether young people should have access to social media, the question is whether social media should have access to young people," she said.