BRUSSELS: The European Parliament called on Wednesday for the European Union to set minimum ages for children to access social media, to combat a rise in mental health problems among adolescents from excessive exposure.
The call, which is not binding, comes as Australia is poised to institute the world’s first social media ban for children younger than 16 and as Denmark and Malaysia also plan bans.
French President Emmanuel Macron has previously called for EU regulation to ban social media for children under 15, although it is not quite clear how the EU would carry this out, given it is up to individual EU members to impose age limits.
Parliament’s resolution, backed by 483 votes to 92, with 86 abstentions, called for an EU-wide ban on access for children under 16 to online platforms, video-sharing sites and AI companions without parental consent and an outright ban for those younger than 13.
“We are in the middle of an experiment, an experiment where American and Chinese tech giants have unlimited access to the attention of our children and young people for hours every single day almost entirely without oversight,” Danish lawmaker Christel Schaldemose, the resolution’s sponsor, told the parliament in a debate on Tuesday.
Schaldemose said those behind the experiment included X boss Elon Musk and Meta’s Marc Zuckerberg and China’s Communist Party and “their tech proxies at TikTok.”
The effects of social media on children’s health and safety have become a growing global concern, with companies including TikTok, Snapchat, Google and Meta Platforms — the operator of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — facing lawsuits in the United States for their role in fueling a mental health crisis.
Parliament’s resolution also called for a ban on loot boxes, virtual items that can be won or bought with real money, and on engagement-based recommender algorithms for minors, as well as legislation to require age-appropriate content design.
“With this report, we finally draw a line. We are saying clearly to the platforms ‘You’re services are not designed for children and the experiment ends here’,” Schaldemose said.
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EU Parliament pushes for age limits on social media to safeguard minors
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EU Parliament pushes for age limits on social media to safeguard minors
- Parliament’s resolution called for an EU-wide ban on access for children under 16 to online platforms, video-sharing sites and AI companions without parental consent
Why Somali migrants may still aim for US despite travel restrictions
MOGADISHU: Somali migrant Mohamed Abdi Awale endured horrors on an ill-fated journey across Africa to seek a better life in the West — but he’s determined to try again one day, even aiming for the US despite increasing restrictions.
Awale is one of 165 Somali migrants recently repatriated after being detained in Libya, where the International Organization for Migration says those caught on journeys to Europe face “unacceptable and inhumane conditions.”
Awale undertook a more than 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) journey, leaving Somali capital Mogadishu to cross Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Sudan.
He was captured by smugglers near the Sudan-Libyan border and taken to the Sahara oasis town of Kufra, where captors filmed him being tortured in a bid to extract a ransom from his family.
“Torture became normal,” Awale said. “If you failed to pay, they beat you until you fainted. Some people lost their minds. Others didn’t survive.”
Unable to afford the ransom, his mother, Hawo Elmo Rage, turned to social media, pleading with Somalis at home and abroad to help her save her son.
“They told me to send the money or they would take his life,” Rage said. She ultimately raised $17,000, enough to free him.
Awale was released from Kufra and put in a car bound for the Mediterranean coast with other migrants. After their vehicle broke down, the group trekked for more than two weeks, facing starvation and dehydration.
“I thought we would die there,” Awale said.
The group was then detained outside of Tripoli, and Awale spent a month in prison in the coastal town of Sirte and another two months in detention in Tripoli before his repatriation to Somalia in November.
Awale became one of hundreds of thousands of Somalis that have fled the country in more than three decades of civil war, according to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, which estimates that another 3.5 million people are displaced within Somalia itself.
While most Somali refugees live in neighboring countries like Kenya, according to UNHCR, many like Awale have been inspired to seek a future in the West. Awale said that he dreamed of moving to the US since he was a child.
“I want him to stay,” his mother said. “But I know he wishes for a better life. I pray God gives him a safe future— not the dangerous one he found.”
Changes to immigration policy this year under Trump administration changed the calculus of migrants like Awale. US President Donald Trump banned travel to the US by citizens of Somalia and 11 other countries in June — so Awale set his sights on Europe.
Awale remains hopeful that he will reach the US one day, despite anti-Somali sentiment from the White House and a further tightening of immigration restrictions for Somalis.
The White House also announced this week that it was pausing all immigration applications for people from 19 countries, including Somalia.
“My dream was America, but I felt like Trump closed that door,” Awale said. “Maybe after Trump’s term ends.”
Awale is one of 165 Somali migrants recently repatriated after being detained in Libya, where the International Organization for Migration says those caught on journeys to Europe face “unacceptable and inhumane conditions.”
Awale undertook a more than 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) journey, leaving Somali capital Mogadishu to cross Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan and Sudan.
He was captured by smugglers near the Sudan-Libyan border and taken to the Sahara oasis town of Kufra, where captors filmed him being tortured in a bid to extract a ransom from his family.
“Torture became normal,” Awale said. “If you failed to pay, they beat you until you fainted. Some people lost their minds. Others didn’t survive.”
Unable to afford the ransom, his mother, Hawo Elmo Rage, turned to social media, pleading with Somalis at home and abroad to help her save her son.
“They told me to send the money or they would take his life,” Rage said. She ultimately raised $17,000, enough to free him.
Awale was released from Kufra and put in a car bound for the Mediterranean coast with other migrants. After their vehicle broke down, the group trekked for more than two weeks, facing starvation and dehydration.
“I thought we would die there,” Awale said.
The group was then detained outside of Tripoli, and Awale spent a month in prison in the coastal town of Sirte and another two months in detention in Tripoli before his repatriation to Somalia in November.
Awale became one of hundreds of thousands of Somalis that have fled the country in more than three decades of civil war, according to UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, which estimates that another 3.5 million people are displaced within Somalia itself.
While most Somali refugees live in neighboring countries like Kenya, according to UNHCR, many like Awale have been inspired to seek a future in the West. Awale said that he dreamed of moving to the US since he was a child.
“I want him to stay,” his mother said. “But I know he wishes for a better life. I pray God gives him a safe future— not the dangerous one he found.”
Changes to immigration policy this year under Trump administration changed the calculus of migrants like Awale. US President Donald Trump banned travel to the US by citizens of Somalia and 11 other countries in June — so Awale set his sights on Europe.
Awale remains hopeful that he will reach the US one day, despite anti-Somali sentiment from the White House and a further tightening of immigration restrictions for Somalis.
The White House also announced this week that it was pausing all immigration applications for people from 19 countries, including Somalia.
“My dream was America, but I felt like Trump closed that door,” Awale said. “Maybe after Trump’s term ends.”
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