Minors' access to social networks will be regulated at EU level. “Digital majority”, established at the same age as in Romania

The Commission for the Internal Market and Consumer Protection of the European Parliament on Thursday adopted with a large majority the proposal of the Danish Social-Democrat MEP Christel Schlademose that access to any online social network be prohibited until the age of 13, and until the age of 16 the consent of the parents is required, reports AFP, taken over by Agerpres.

According to a press release from the EP, video distribution platforms are also targeted.

Support is not unanimous at EU level

The restrictions are motivated by MEPs by “risks related to addiction, mental health and exposure to illegal or harmful content” for children and adolescents.

The minimum age for uncontrolled access, also called “digital age”, increases the pressure on online platforms. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, even launched a debate on the usefulness of such a regulation at the level of the entire European Union. The head of the European executive, who supports the respective restrictions, will receive a recommendation from a committee of experts by the end of the year.

Denmark, holder of the rotating presidency of the EU in the current semester, recently announced a project to establish a digital majority at 15 years. Under its influence, the European ministers responsible for the IT and digital field declared their support for the EC president's initiative last week.

However, there is no unanimity in favor of the idea among the 27 member states of the Union.

At the world level, Australia is among the pioneers of imposing such restrictions. A law on the digital age of 16 was passed by the parliament at the end of 2024 and is due to enter into force on December 10. Last month, the government in Canberra published guidelines that social media must follow to implement the measures.

What the Romanian law provides

Romania has already taken concrete steps in this direction, after the Senate adopted, on October 6, the legislative proposal regarding online coming of age, which stipulates that minors, until reaching the age of 16, access online services and create personal accounts, in their own name, only on the basis of verifiable parental consent. The project is to be sent to the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making forum.

“The minor's legal representative can request online service providers to suspend or delete the minor's account, as well as restrict his access to electronic pages that have harmful content. Parental consent, suspension and/or deletion of the minor's account is made upon request, only in writing, by the minor's legal representative. The request is sent to the National Authority for Administration and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM), either in physical format or in electronic format, with a certified electronic signature”, the legislative proposal adopted by the Senate provides.

According to the amendments from the specialized commissions and appropriated by the plenary, harmful content is considered “any written, audio, video or visual content that promotes: alcohol, energy drinks, cigarettes or other nicotine-based products, drugs, violence, hatred, pornography, self-harm, behaviors harmful to health, addictions, fraud, hate speech, including on criteria of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, exploitation of minors or any other forms of content that present a significant risk to the physical or emotional development of the minor”.

The online major is defined as “the natural person who, upon reaching the age of 16, acquires full exercise capacity in the online environment”.

The rules for the application of the law of online majority are to be developed by ANCOM, within six months of its entry into force.