- The European Union is considering banning social media for children under 16.
- Australia’s ban will come into effect on December 10, 2025.
- Widespread debate about privacy and age verification in the EU
The European Parliament is currently considering banning access to social platforms for minors under the age of 16.
The trend came to light during Wednesday’s meeting, during which 483 MPs voted in favour. exit As already mentioned, its aim is to strengthen the protection of minors on the Internet. european politicsOnly 92 elected members protested and 86 abstained from voting,
The European Commission is following the example of Australia, the global leader in this area, and the entry ban for children under 16 is expected to come into effect on December 10, 2025.
The motion, supported by Christer Schladmose of the Danish Social Democratic Party, calls on the European Commission to review Europe’s “fragmented approach to age verification” to ensure consistency across the continent.
In fact, age verification schemes are rolling out across the EU, but only a few countries have actually introduced new requirements under the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Age Verification and Privacy Risks
If the stated purpose of these laws is to protect minors from online abuse, cybersecurity and privacy experts are concerned about current age verification methods, which they call a “privacy violation.”
In fact, all Internet users, not just those under 16, must prove their age to access social media.
But experts warn that sharing photos or IDs with third-party service providers responsible for this verification could put them at risk of sensitive data being leaked or misused. A similar scenario happened in the UK, where 70,000 images of official documents of the service provider used by Discord were hacked.
It is these types of privacy threats that are why more and more internet users around the world are turning to the best VPN services to bypass the new authentication requirements.
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