- Estonia urges the EU to require platforms to change rather than ban children's access to social media.
- EU plans to announce an age limit, likely 13 or 15, on September 16.
- Estonia wants the Digital Services Act to legally bind platforms to protect children; EU is already probing Meta and TikTok.
The European Union should make social media platforms change instead of banning children from using the apps, Estonia’s digital minister told AFP Monday, just over a week before the EU is due to announce an age limit.
Estonia has been a lone voice in opposing the EU’s plans to restrict children’s access to social media, instead calling for online platforms to change.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen is expected to announce a social media ban on September 16, with officials saying an age limit of 13 or 15 is under discussion.
But IT-savvy Estonia argues the tech giants have prime responsibility for making their popular platforms safer for minors.
“As children are members of the information society, it’s actually the platforms who should change,” Estonian Justice and Digital Affairs Minister Liisa-Ly Pakosta said.
“The best interests and rights of the child must guide platforms’ design, and that is useful for the whole society,” she said in a video interview.
Pakosta pointed to the EU’s content law known as the Digital Services Act (DSA) as one way for the bloc to demand platforms change.
She argues for instance that the EU’s recommendations for platforms under the DSA to protect children online should be made legally binding.
The EU has already deployed the law to probe Meta’s Facebook and Instagram as well as TikTok, and told the platforms to change their “addictive” designs.
