While asking Paris to amend the law banning access to social media for under 15s because it is incompatible with Union law, Brussels is accelerating work on a possible common regulation. The hypothesis of a European ban for minors could indeed take shape as early as September, with an announcement expected from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the State of the Union speech.
WHY THE EU BELIEVES FRANCE’S LAW NEEDS TO BE REVISED
The European Commission has asked France to revise the bill that would ban access to social media for under 15s, considering that the text, in its current form, exceeds the competences recognized to Member States and overlaps with the European regulatory framework defined by the Digital Services Act (DSA). According to the formal opinion of the community executive, some provisions would grant the French regulatory authorities powers that instead belong to the Commission in the context of oversight of large digital platforms.
Brussels specified that France can introduce a minimum age for access to social media, but the measure will have to be amended to be compatible with Union law. Furthermore, according to European procedures, Afp writes that the law cannot be approved before August 10.
THE COMMON GOAL OF PROTECTING MINORS
While requesting changes to the French text, the Commission reiterated that it shares the aims of the initiative. “We fully share the goal of the French authorities: minors must be better protected online,” said spokesperson Thomas Regnier.
Regnier also explained that “the Commission’s opinion helps ensure that any national measure is effective and compliant with EU law. We must minimize fragmentation of national systems, which could create legal uncertainty or weaken the enforcement of rules.”
THE PATH OF THE FRENCH LAW
The bill, explains Rfi, initially envisaged a general ban for all online social networking services. Subsequently, the French Senate amended the text by introducing a distinction between platforms considered harmful, to be placed on a blacklist, and other services that could remain accessible with parental consent.
The amendments were approved despite warnings from the French government, which said some provisions risked conflicting with European legislation. In light of the Commission’s opinion, the National Assembly and Senate will have to find a compromise through a mixed committee before proceeding with the legislative process, although the French executive aimed to have the law in force by the start of the next school year.
THE HYPOTHESIS OF A EUROPEAN CRACKDOWN IN SEPTEMBER
While dialogue with Paris is open, a broader project is taking shape in Brussels. According to several European and diplomatic sources cited by Euractiv, von der Leyen is expected to use the State of the Union speech, scheduled for September 16 in Strasbourg, to announce a proposal aimed at introducing restrictions on minors’ access to social media throughout the European Union.
The legal framework, however, has not yet been defined and the minimum age to be adopted has not been established either. Among failures and hypotheses under study are parental consent requirements or age verification systems that prevent minors from opening accounts on social platforms. A European official nevertheless clarified that the Commission is still awaiting recommendations from the expert group tasked with developing proposals on online child protection, expected by July 13.
PRESSURE FROM MEMBER STATES
According to Euractiv, online child protection has become one of von der Leyen’s second-term priorities and several governments are now calling for political announcements to translate into concrete initiatives. France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Greece and Italy are already working on national measures, while Ireland, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, supports a common approach based on age verification.
“We expect fairly concrete proposals and ideas and I believe there is an opportunity to adopt a common European position to protect children online,” said Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin. A European diplomat also noted that “the longer the Commission waits, the less flexible Member States will be in adapting their regulatory frameworks,” while European Parliament Vice-President Christel Schaldemose urged Brussels to speed up: “It is not moving fast enough, and that is a problem.”
THE ROLE OF THE DIGITAL SERVICES ACT AND PLATFORM INVESTIGATIONS
A possible European intervention would fit within the framework of tools already provided by the Digital Services Act, which grants the Commission the power to investigate major digital platforms, impose changes and apply sanctions in case of rule violations.
In recent months, Brussels has opened proceedings against TikTok and Meta to verify compliance with child protection obligations on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram platforms. Furthermore, in February the Commission asked TikTok to modify some elements of its “addictive design,” while in April it challenged Meta over the insufficient effectiveness of measures taken to prevent under-13s from using Facebook and Instagram.
