It is above all a symbolic text, but one which could well change the lives of millions of young Europeans. As expected, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen unveiled this Wednesday, September 16, her proposal to limit access to social networks and AI assistants to children and adolescents, in order to protect them against the many associated risks.
Called the “EU Kids Act”, it provides in particular for the outright ban on social networks before the age of 13, and the establishment of “mini accounts” blocked and controlled by their parent(s) or guardian(s) for 13-15 year olds, who will not be able to have personal accounts. “Each age has its own sensitivities, and will have its own appropriate level of protection,” she assured.
“This means that children aged 13 to 15 will only have mini accounts, with restricted functionality and a duration of use limited to one hour per day. For children aged 15 to 18, it will be up to the platforms to secure access for minors,” she detailed, insisting that the EU could not accept that children could access “addictive features”, or even worse, “ever more violent and extreme content”.
A text expected by France
The President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, has been calling for this text for several months, making the protection of children a major focus at the end of his second term. Already this summer, the French Parliament definitively adopted, on July 21, a bill banning social networks for under 15s. A first in Europe, the entry into force of which was planned in September to protect the health of children and adolescents.
But this was rejected by the Constitutional Council, seized at the end of July by socialist deputies and rebellious on article 1 of the law aimed at protecting minors from social networks. On August 14, the Council of Elders considered that this measure was “a disproportionate attack” on the freedom of expression and communication of adolescents. He then judged the law too “general”, with no possibility for parents to “authorize access” in certain cases.
Pure and simple censorship which was not enough to stop the ambitions of the head of state. In the process, the latter had in fact asked his Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to “find a way through” consistent with both the reservations of the Constitutional Council and the requirements of European law. “It’s done,” he rejoiced this Monday: “After rigorous technical work, the government is today notifying new documents to the European Commission. And to hope that a ban will be operational in France when he leaves the Élysée next May.
In a letter addressed to the President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the end of August, Emmanuel Macron had also asked to “be able to count” on the “mobilization” of his services in “a limited time” after transmission of the text. The objective of Paris is clear: to ensure that the European analysis to validate its new version does not start from scratch, as if it were a blank sheet, but rather that it is an update of the expertise already undertaken on the initial version.
The higher needs of the child above all else
Whatever the scale chosen, the shared ambition remains to protect the youngest. “This is why we must reverse the burden of proof: it will now be up to the platforms to prove that they are safe. The problem is to define when and how social networks can have access to our minors,” insisted Ursula von der Leyen. Before launching: “It’s up to us to dictate our rules, not to the tech giants.” Because the risks associated with the unlimited or controlled use of social networks are such that “we must go further”, European leaders recognize in unison.
The EU already had a powerful law, the Digital Services Regulation (DSA), under which it is already trying to force large platforms to strengthen the protection of users, and in particular that of minors, under penalty of heavy fines. Investigations target in particular Instagram and Facebook (subsidiaries of the American group Meta), and even TikTok. But with the “EU Kids Act”, it wants to force social networks to fundamentally change the way they operate, without having to launch lengthy procedures, in addition to age-related restrictions.
