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.
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
Venezuela swears in 5,600 troops after US military build-up
- American forces have carried out deadly strikes on more than 20 vessels, killing at least 87
CARACAS: The Venezuelan army swore in 5,600 soldiers on Saturday, as the United States cranks up military pressure on the oil-producing country.
President Nicolas Maduro has called for stepped-up military recruitment after the United States deployed a fleet of warships and the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.
American forces have carried out deadly strikes on more than 20 vessels, killing at least 87.
Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns,” which it declared a terrorist organization last month.
Maduro asserts the American deployment aims to overthrow him and seize the country’s oil reserves.
“Under no circumstances will we allow an invasion by an imperialist force,” Col. Gabriel Rendon said Saturday during a ceremony at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, in Caracas.
According to official figures, Venezuela has around 200,000 troops and an additional 200,000 police officers.
A former opposition governor died in prison on Saturday where he had been detained on charges of terrorism and incitement, a rights group said.
Alfredo Diaz was at least the sixth opposition member to die in prison since November 2024.
They had been arrested following protests sparked by last July’s disputed election, when Maduro claimed a third term despite accusations of fraud.
The protests resulted in 28 deaths and around 2,400 arrests, with nearly 2,000 people released since then.
Diaz, governor of Nueva Esparta from 2017 to 2021, “had been imprisoned and held in isolation for a year; only one visit from his daughter was allowed,” said Alfredo Romero, director of the NGO Foro Penal, which defends political prisoners.
The group says there are at least 887 political prisoners in Venezuela.
Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado condemned the deaths of political prisoners in Venezuela during “post-electoral repression.”
“The circumstances of these deaths — which include denial of medical care, inhumane conditions, isolation, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment — reveal a sustained pattern of state repression,” Machado said in a joint statement with Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the opposition candidate she believes won the election.
