EU to propose law curbing social media for children on Thursday

BRUSSELS: The European Union will on Thursday (Sep 17) propose a new law to shield children from social media harms, a day after EU chief Ursula von der Leyen is due to reveal an age limit for minors to access such platforms.

After more than a year of talks and pressure from member states including France and Greece as well as parents across the 27-country EU, von der Leyen will address the issue in a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

The EU Kids Act will be presented on Thursday by von der Leyen and EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen in Brussels, spokesman Olof Gill told reporters.

Von der Leyen is expected to say that social media and platforms used by children should be "safe by design", meaning that they are not addictive and have features removed that encourage excessive use.

She has also been weighing up barring social media access entirely for children under 13 - which an expert panel has recommended - or under 15, which France wants.

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.