Worries that too much time on social media may be hurting children's mental health, and creating addictions as harmful as alcohol or cigarettes, are sparking growing calls across Europe to block minors under the age of 15 or 16 from access to platforms.
After Australia became the first country to block under-16s from platforms in December, a host of EU countries are poised to possibly follow suit.
France, Spain, Portugal and Greece are now weighing similar measures, driven by growing concerns over algorithms and the grip of Big Tech on young minds.
Supporters of tougher rules argue that the risks are no longer theoretical. Studies increasingly link heavy social media use among teenagers to anxiety, depression, addictive behaviour and, in extreme cases, suicide.
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Governments insist they are stepping in where platforms have failed to protect children from systems designed to maximise screen time over well-being.
Marc Angel, a Luxembourgish MEP from the Socialists & Democrats group, and a member of the European Parliament's Intergroup on Children's Rights, is among the European lawmakers who backs a ban.
In our Talking Europe debate, Angel argues that the logic is simple: what is illegal offline should be illegal online.
He warns that today's dangers are no longer just in the street, but on the bedroom screens of smartphones and other devices. "When I was a kid, my parents told me not to let strangers into the house," he says. "Now the strangers are in the bedrooms of kids. And sometimes they aren't even real people."
But opponents of a blanket ban, such as Ana Vasconcelos, a Portuguese MEP with Renew Europe, consider it a blunt and ineffective tool. In a pointed retort to Angel, Vasconcelos argues that Europe risks over-correcting, prioritising symbolic action over workable solutions.
Vasconcelos warns that age-verification systems raise serious privacy issues, expose sensitive data to hacking, and are "very easy to circumvent." In her view, bans may create a false sense of safety while failing to address the real problem.
Instead, she argues for targeted measures: privacy-by-design on devices, phone-free spaces in schools, stronger media literacy, together with greater parental responsibility. For Vasconcelos, the challenge is not whether social media poses risks, but how to prepare young people to navigate a digital reality they cannot avoid.
Programme prepared by Perrine Desplats, Isabelle Romero, Oihana Almandoz and Paul Guianvarc'h
Talking Europe © FRANCE 24
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Marc Angel Luxembourgish MEP, Socialists and Democrats
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Ana VASCONCELOS Portuguese MEP, Renew Europe
English (US) · 