LUXEMBOURG – Denmark, which assumes the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU on 1 July, plans to dedicate the entire agenda of its informal meeting of digital ministers on 9-10 October to the protection of children online.
“[D]uring our presidency the informal meeting that I host in October will be only focusing on the digital future of children,” said Danish Digital Minister Caroline Stage Olsen during a press briefing at a the Council of the EU’s meeting in Luxembourg.
The move aligns with a call from France, Greece, and Spain to tighten safeguards for minors in the digital space.
The three-country coalition have called for stricter age controls on social media and porn websites, citing concerns about children’s cognitive development and damage to their understanding of human relationships, as well as mounting mental health risks.
While EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) requires platforms to implement measures protecting minors, it falls short of mandating robust age verification mechanisms or enforcing age-based access restrictions.
It currently leaves substantial discretion to platforms on how these obligations are implemented. “The current EU regulation is not enough”, acknowledged the Danish minister.
Olsen confirmed being formally aligned with Paris and Athens in backing a minimum European age requirement – dubbed a European “Digital Majority Age” – of 15 years old for accessing social media platforms.
Spain, meanwhile, has taken a more restrictive stance – proposing to set the bar at 16, its Digital Minister Óscar López, said during the same Council meeting.
Cyprus, Italy and Slovenia decided to join the coalition of countries favouring age verification on social media, taking a “family picture” inside the building to show support.
(NL)