The Netherlands proposes a common minimum age to the European Commission for minors’ access to social media

With Spain’s support, the Netherlands will present the European Commission with a series of proposals to protect minors on social media. The plan calls for setting a common minimum age across the European Union, verifying respect for privacy, and requiring platforms to demonstrate that their services are safe for children.

Willemijn Aerdts, the Dutch State Secretary for the Digital Economy and Sovereignty, said that social networks do not sufficiently protect children from harmful content and addictive services. She did not specify what minimum age the Netherlands is proposing.

The initiative aims to prevent different limits from emerging in Member States, which could create confusion for platforms, authorities, parents, and minors. The proposal includes creating an independent European framework to assess the safety of digital services for children, based on the Digital Services Act and child rights assessments.

Platforms would be expected to demonstrate compliance with safety standards in order to be exempted from the general age limit. Age verification should confirm only whether the user meets the established threshold, without collecting any other personal data. The Netherlands and Spain also support the development of alternative digital services designed from the outset to be safe for children.