BRUSSELS: The European Commission is holding back Austria and other EU states from introducing national social media bans for children, a spokesman for the Brussels authority said on Oct 29.
National draft laws that overlap with the age limit for social media planned at European level are to be postponed by one year at first, the spokesman said. Until then, a so-called standstill period applies.
The decision can also be seen as a signal to Germany and other EU countries not to continue developing national laws for now, and instead to advance the Commission's proposal for a Europe-wide rule.
In September, Brussels proposed allowing access to social media only from age 13 and creating accounts on the platforms only from age 15 across the EU.
Before the legislative proposal can be implemented, member states must agree at the European level and negotiate with the European Parliament. That could take months or even years.
The Commission says the focus must be on these negotiations, with a spokesman warning of fragmentation within the EU.
If there are different age limits and different laws in the various member states, it would be hard to enforce, and online platforms would not be able to cope with it.
Some nations already planned bans
The German government had agreed on key points for transitional rules until the corresponding EU-wide social media restrictions come into force. German Family Minister Karin Prien had said that Germany would not wait.
Germany plans to reform its youth protection law. The aim is for the Cabinet to approve the reform this year. Legislation would then take a few more months to be completed in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, and the Bundesrat, the upper house.
Italy, France and Greece may go ahead with bans
The decision initially concerned a draft law from Austria, where video-sharing platforms such as Instagram, TikTok or Snapchat were to be allowed only for young people aged 14 and over.
Because the European Commission enforces EU digital rules against the large online platforms, member states must notify it of national legislative plans. Poland and Belgium had therefore also submitted their proposals to the Brussels authority, and they are likely to be put off for now too.
The situation is different for Italy, France and Greece, according to the Commission: They submitted their country-specific proposals long before the EU-wide proposal. The commission had already had to give them feedback, which is why the countries can now introduce their bans.
Greece was the first EU state to announce that it will ban access to social media for children and young people under 15 from Jan 1. – dpa
