Social media and children: EU guidelines expected in 2025

Brussels – Protection of minors and the Internet: the Commission continues working on guidelines to protect young and very young people dealing with social networks. The code of conduct for a responsible use that respects the wellbeing of minors should be approved “in 2025,” assures the outgoing Commissioner for Competition and Digital Marketplace, Margrethe Vestager, answering a parliamentary question on the matter.

The community executive believes that undisciplined and uninformed use of social media such as TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram can be bad for young people’s health, Vestager continues, “based on suspicions that algorithms can stimulate behavioral addictions and create ‘rabbit hole’ effects,” i.e., detachment from reality.