BRUSSELS: A group of experts charged with advising the European Commission on how to improve child safety online held its first meeting on Thursday.
"For decades, we have made the real world safer for children and we must do the same in the digital world," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who hosted the panel's first meeting.
"The positive opportunities that technology offers cannot come at the cost of their safety, health or happiness," she said.
The recommendations could be decisive in a debate over setting a minimum age for the use of social media.
While calls for age restrictions are growing louder in some EU countries, the commission has so far not proposed legislation that would allow capitals to introduce a minimum age.
Von der Leyen said that the commission was already enforcing legislation that obliges tech platforms to keep users safe. "But we must also do more to protect and empower our young people online."
She spoke out in favour of a minimum age last year, comparing the measure to age restriction on alcohol and tobacco consumption.
The experts' task is "to forge a strong, realistic, European approach to keep our children safe in the digital age," she said.
The group unites experts from various disciplines, including children's rights, health and IT. It is to present recommendations for new protective measures by the summer.
The panel is co-led by German psychiatrist Jörg M Fegert and French mental health researcher Maria Melchior. – dpa
