European Parliament calls for limits on addictive design and an ad-free mode for young people without targeted advertising on online platforms

The European Parliament is calling on online platforms to limit design features that encourage addictive use and to offer a youth mode that disables targeted advertising for minors. The resolution, adopted with 395 votes in favour, 136 against and 80 abstentions, calls for greater corporate responsibility for the safety of their products, alongside the involvement of families, schools and authorities.

In brief, platforms should introduce safeguards tailored to the risks of recommendation systems and eliminate the most addictive practices. Parliament is also calling for greater transparency regarding the algorithms that select the content displayed to users. MEPs propose age verification without collecting or retaining personal data, as well as a youth mode without targeted advertising for minors. These demands are part of a non-legislative resolution, not a new law adopted in plenary. AI-based companions should comply with mandatory ethical standards. Parliament is also calling for a ban on the generation or alteration by AI of sexual images and videos depicting a person without their consent. Influencers, agencies and platforms should follow a European code of conduct, with transparency regarding sponsorships. The Commission is also invited to clarify how audiovisual rules apply to the services of influencers and professional content creators. Separately, the Commission’s EU KIDS Act proposal provides for gradual access to social media accounts depending on age. It remains a legislative proposal distinct from Parliament’s resolution and from existing obligations under the Digital Services Act.

Parliament’s request concerns both the content young people are exposed to and the way services are designed. MEPs want protection against harmful or manipulative material and measures to reduce the effects of persuasive and addictive design. In the case of recommendation systems, which select the content presented to users, safeguards should take account of the risks associated with how they operate.

Algorithmic transparency, age verification and a youth mode are among the tools requested from companies. Parliament is calling for age verification to be carried out without collecting or retaining personal data, thereby keeping privacy protection at the centre of the solution. Through this vote, the request does not establish a single technical procedure that platforms must apply immediately.

Rapporteur Sandro Ruotolo, an Italian MEP from the S&D group, argued that responsibility for safety cannot rest solely with children and families and that platforms must make their products safe. He welcomed the Commission’s EU KIDS Act initiative and advocated common European rules, citing the cross-border nature of algorithms.

The resolution extends protection requests to AI companions, services designed for conversational interaction with users. MEPs are calling for mandatory ethical standards for these products and greater transparency in the training of artificial intelligence models. A separate request concerns banning the use of AI to generate, manipulate or alter sexual images and videos depicting people without their consent.

In the case of influencers, Parliament is calling on the Commission and Member States to establish an EU-wide code of conduct, also applicable to agencies and platforms. MEPs want a legal definition of influencer marketing, the identification of sponsorships and action against unfair commercial practices. They cite the influence of content creators on young people’s perceptions, including perceptions of their own bodies.

The review of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive is presented as an opportunity to clarify the responsibilities of professional creators on video-sharing platforms. Parliament is asking the Commission to assess whether influencers’ services fall within the directive’s scope and to monitor compliance with advertising-transparency obligations equivalent to those applying to media-service providers. The requested assessment does not amount to the automatic inclusion of all influencers in the same legal category.

The proposals were adopted through an own-initiative report coordinated by the Committee on Culture and Education. The resolution expresses Parliament’s political position and calls for action by companies and authorities; the vote does not turn these demands into new obligations directly applicable to platforms.

The protection of minors is already part of the Digital Services Act, known as the DSA, which includes measures concerning age-inappropriate content and restrictions on advertising directed at children. The existing framework also contains advertising-transparency obligations, meaning that Parliament’s demands add to legislation already in force.

At the same time, the Commission’s EU KIDS Act proposal provides for banning social media accounts for those under 13, parent-supervised accounts for 13- and 14-year-olds, with a maximum of one hour of use per day, and independent accounts from age 15. These thresholds appear in the Commission’s proposal and in the position expressed by Ruotolo; they are not rules that entered into force through the vote on the resolution.