EU moves closer to social media ban for under 13s

The EU will move forward with plans for an under 13s social media ban, the head of the European Commission has confirmed.Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that social media apps were “depriving children of their childhood” and big tech platforms needed to prove the safety of their products.She promised a draft law for a total ban on social media for under 13s, while children aged 13-15 would be allowed “mini accounts” under parental supervision with time limits on apps.The commission will publish its social media plan on Thursday, which will have to be agreed by the European Parliament and 27 EU member states if it is to become law.Von der Leyen also promised that the commission’s Digital Fairness Act, due to be submitted to the European Parliament this year, would tackle features such as addictive design, which she said was “harming everyone”.The commission president made the comments in Strasbourg as part of her annual state of the union address. In a wide-ranging speech covering the EU’s place in a turbulent world and plans for continent-wide legislation, she also promised a European heatwave plan and committed to an emergency response mechanism to deal with sudden inflows of migrants in response to events in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in August.Von der Leyen also made an unprecedented invitation to Canada to become an “associate member” of the EU, and pledged to set out ideas for a European security council involving Canada, Norway, Ukraine and the UK.The former German defence minister said the EU needed its version of Nato’s article 4 – an “emergency security protocol” that means all member states would convene at the request of another in response to a hybrid attack.“Europe needs its own counter-hybrid playbook,” she said. “We urgently need a consensus on how to respond to certain incidents – those which fall below armed aggression but clearly threaten our national security.”Nato’s article 4, which is separate from the collective defence clause, article 5, means members of the alliance can consult when one of them believes their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionEuropean nations have recently faced a series of hostile acts attributed to Russia, including sabotage, incursions by jets into European airspace and a drone attack on Leipzig airport.Warning that Ukraine faced a tough winter, von der Leyen suggested the EU may have reached its limits on economic restrictions against Russia. “What is needed is not necessarily new sanctions, but above all the enforcement of existing sanctions,” she said.After 21 rounds of measures, EU member states have found it increasingly difficult to agree sanctions on the Kremlin’s war machine, wary of the cost to their own economies.Von der Leyen also touched on Europe’s divisions over whether or not to introduce restrictions on trade with Israel and its illegal settlements in the West Bank. The commission has declined to publish a proposal to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements, though several EU member states and allies including France, Canada and the UK have moved in this direction.“When Europe is divided, it cannot change the course of events,” she said.