EU Expert Panel Backs Age Restrictions and Addictive Feature Bans
An EU expert panel led by Dr. Jörg M. Fegert and Dr. Maria Melchior has issued recommendations for new platform obligations, including age verification and the prohibition of infinite scrolling, aimed at child safety. These proposals suggest a shift toward ex-ante design requirements that could impact the development and compliance obligations of video-sharing platforms under the Digital Services Act.
Key Takeaways
- Platforms should take primary responsibility for child safety, with parents and caregivers assigned a secondary, supportive role.
- Proposed technical mandates include blocking infinite scrolling and implementing effective age verification at the platform level.
- The panel recommends restricting platform access for minors under 13 while allowing member states to adopt higher age thresholds.
- A 2020 EU Kids Online Network survey found only 22% of European parents utilize existing parental control tools.
Why It Matters
The shift toward ex-ante design requirements represents a fundamental change in regulatory philosophy, moving from reactive policing to pre-emptive feature restrictions. For video platforms, this means engineering core monetization drivers like infinite scrolling out of product roadmaps for European users. This local fragmentation, mirrored by more aggressive age bans in France and Australia, complicates uniform global product development. Failure to comply will invite heavy scrutiny under the Digital Services Act (DSA). Watch for the European Commission's formal legislative proposal in late 2026, which will likely define the technical standards for 'privacy-preserving' age verification.
Additional Context
The European Commission announced in July 2026 that it will propose formal legislation based on these expert recommendations by the end of the year. Per IAPP (July 2026), France has already moved ahead with its own national regulation, approving legislation that blocks minors under 15 from social media platforms unless parental consent is provided. This reflects a broader trend of member states ignoring EU-wide harmonization in favor of stricter national access floors, as seen in Greece and Denmark’s recent policy considerations. Simultaneously, the UK and Australia are refining their own enforcement models. Per Wikipedia (July 2026), the UK government confirmed plans for an "Australia Plus" model that bans accounts for those under 16 while explicitly targeting high-risk features like livestreaming and private messaging. Australia, which enacted its ban in late 2024, recently introduced amendments in June 2026 to increase penalties for non-compliant platforms to 99 million AUD, following reports that 70% of parents still observe their children bypassing current filters via VPNs and fake birthdays. Platform-level responses have already begun to preempt these rules. Per SKW Schwarz (July 2026), Reddit announced in June 2026 that it would permanently lock teen accounts in the EU to the most restrictive privacy settings and tie adult content access to age verification. Meanwhile, the EU's own age-verification app, announced as "technically ready" by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in April 2026, continues to face industry criticism regarding zero-knowledge proof implementation and the potential for AI agents to bypass biometric checks within minutes.
Read full article at pressreader.com
Get this in your inbox → Subscribe
Enjoy our coverage?
Add StreamingMeme as a preferred source on Google to see more of our streaming news at the top of your Search results.
Add as preferred source