The draft plans are expected to include a "block" or "delay" on children and teenagers' access to social media platforms

EU to outline curbs on children accessing social media

14 Sep 2026, 23:01 by Fiachra Ó Cionnaith, https://www.facebook.com/rtenews/ · RTE.ie

Children and teenagers aged under 15 will not be able to open a social media account without express parental or guardian permission, while those aged under 13 will only be able to access "child friendly" alternatives, under new draft plans set to be outlined by the European Commission president.

Ursula von der Leyen's proposal, expected to be called 'EU Kids Act', will be outlined in her annual state of the union address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg tomorrow.

It will then be further detailed on Thursday by Ms von der Leyen and her colleague Henna Virkkunen, who is the EU's executive vice-president of tech sovereignty, security and democracy.

The draft plans are expected to include what is being termed a "block" or "delay" on children and teenagers' access to social media platforms.

While a specific age restriction has not yet been finalised, it is expected the draft plan will include four stages:

A total ban on children under the age of three accessing social media.
A demand that children aged three to 13 can only access "child friendly" versions of social media.
That children aged 13 to 15 can only open a social media account with the express permission of their parent, parents or guardian, that a parent or guardian will have the right to monitor the account, and that a screen time limit will be imposed on the account.
That teenagers aged 15 to 18 can only access "safe by design" versions of social media.

Ursula von der Leyen's proposal will be outlined in her annual state of the union address

The Irish Government and its counterparts in other EU member states have in recent months emphasised the need for some kind of social media restrictions to be introduced for children and young teens, with an under-16s ban previously mooted.

However, significant debate has taken place over what age limit would be acceptable, whether it could be legally implemented due to recent legislative rows in France over such a policy, and if it would be effective given difficulties in practically implementing similar measures in Australia.

Australia became the first country in the world to ban social media for under 16s as governments and experts became increasingly concerned by the negative impact on children's mental and physical health, proven by multiple studies.

Meanwhile, while it was initially reported by a number of media outlets that the expected announcement of the 'EU Kids Act' plans on Thursday was likely to mean that Ms von der Leyen could not attend Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg that day, her spokesperson has since said she will be in attendance for his address.

In his own speech to MEPs, Mr Carney is likely to outline his desire for closer relations between the EU and Canada, a suggestion that comes a month before a high-profile Canada-EU summit in October and amid ongoing friction between Mr Carney and US President Donald Trump.