EU Chief: Ban Social Media for Under 1309/16 06:33

   

   BRUSSELS (AP) -- The European Union's top official proposed on Wednesday 
banning children under 13 across the 27-nation bloc from using social media 
sites and imposing limits for older teens on accessing the platforms.

   The plan outlined by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen adds 
to global efforts to protect young people using platforms such as Instagram and 
TikTok from online harm.

   "I am aware that many perceive the power of Big Tech as overwhelming and 
impossible to roll back. I disagree," von der Leyen said in her annual State of 
the European Union speech in Strasbourg.

   "We do not have to accept addictive features. We do not have to accept 
children being drawn into ever more extreme content. We do not have to accept 
that girls have their photos used for AI-generated sexualized images," she said.

   Von der Leyen said that under her proposal "mini accounts" chaperoned by 
guardians would be granted to kids aged 13-15, with limits on features and the 
amount of time they can be accessed.

   For 15-to-18-year-olds, platforms will need to provide a "safe design," she 
said. Further details of the plan are expected Thursday.

   Brussels risks a fresh confrontation with Trump and Big Tech

   The EU's 27 member nations still need to debate and vote on the proposal, 
which could take years and spark tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump, who 
has long criticized Europe's tech regulations.

   Brando Benifei, an Italian member of the European Parliament, said he 
supported the plan and that Brussels shouldn't shy away from a showdown with 
the dominant U.S. tech companies.

   "To apply this, you need to confront in a very frontal way the interests of 
platforms and Big Tech who are not happy with this," he said.

   Von der Leyen was advancing a plan she foreshadowed earlier this year, when 
she said kids should be exposed to social media in a "phased and gradual" way.

   Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok already prohibit 
anyone under 13 from opening an account, but authorities have accused the 
companies of failing to keep them off.

   But some experts said the commission was failing to tackle a more 
fundamental issue with the social media industry's core business practices 
based on getting users hooked on scrolling through addictive content while 
showing them ads.

   The plan "merely delays young people's exposure to the risks of online harm 
instead of addressing the business model and extractive practices which fuel 
it," said Simeon de Brouwer, a policy advisor at digital rights group EDRi. The 
platforms will "unavoidably target them as soon as they're a day older than the 
threshold."

   The EU proposals are part of a global effort to improve children's online 
safety

   The commission's proposal is part of a wider global push to protect young 
people online and represents the first move to introduce a bloc-wide age limit 
for social media.

   Individual European countries such as Spain and Portugal have taken their 
own steps to ban teens from social media platforms, mirroring regulatory 
actions in other places like Australia and New Zealand

   Some efforts have run into roadblocks. France's top court last month struck 
down a law banning children under 15 from social media, saying it infringed on 
fundamental freedoms. French President Emmanuel Macron vowed to rework the 
proposal.

   In the United States, social media company Meta Platforms last month agreed 
to pay up to $18 billion and add stronger child-safety measures to its Facebook 
and Instagram platforms to resolve a trial over teen social media addiction and 
settle claims filed by nearly every state.

   Manfred Weber, the head of the largest group in the European Parliament, 
spoke after von der Leyen to propose that the EU follow Australia's lead in 
allowing citizens to switch off social media algorithms.

   "Elon Musk will not like it, but probably that is a reason for doing it," he 
said.

   Von der Leyen also weighed in on the intensifying debate about artificial 
intelligence and the potential risks it poses to humanity, saying the 
commission would discuss efforts to slow down advanced AI development with 
leading AI companies.

   She said the EU would work with "like-minded partners" like Canada and 
Britain.

   "We want to team up on model evaluation, verification, early warning, AI 
security and much more," she said.