The European Union will move to limit ​young children's access to social media across the 27-member bloc, European Commission President Ursula von ⁠der Leyen said on Monday, ⁠in what would be the biggest such effort to date to guard against online dangers.

Von ⁠der Leyen's remarks came as a special EU panel looking into the challenge recommended forbidding access for those under 13 until tech companies can prove their platforms are safe.

Growing awareness of the dangers social media poses for young, developing brains has shown up in a wave of new restrictions globally. Australia, the U.K., Türkiye, Indonesia and others have passed bans on kids under 16 or 15 from using platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.

Laying out a list of her concerns about the use of social media by kids, von der Leyen, a doctor by training, said that children under 3 should have no exposure to screens at all.

"I believe we need to consider phased and gradual access for different age ranges because childhood won't wait and once it's gone, we can never give it back," von der Leyen told reporters.

"Just as we don't give our children keys to the car before they have their license, or we do not let them buy alcohol until they are legally allowed. We need to set the age at which they can, the children can, legally access social media," she said.

"This is not about whether children can access social media. It is about whether and when social media can access our children."

Von der Leyen noted infinite scrolling as one of the "addictive" traits that tech companies must address.

Beyond toddlers, she did not mention any precise restrictions, but she and the European Commission, the EU's powerful executive branch, are likely to come up with a proposal for the 27 member countries to weigh in the near future.

Von der Leyen's policy proposals carry great influence with EU member countries.

A special panel set up to study child safety online delivered its report to the EU chief on Monday. The report said that when it comes to safety, "the burden of proof needs to be on providers, not regulators, parents and children."

"Until they demonstrate that their services are safe by design, social media and other digital services providers should have restricted access to children under the age of 13 in the EU," said the report, which is likely to influence von der Leyen's thinking.

It recommended that "further precautionary age restrictions" should be considered by EU countries for children over 13.

The European Union has been mulling a social media ban since a push by EU states, including Greece and France, for limiting access, with pressure intensifying for a bloc-wide ban.

A legal proposal will come in the second half of the year, von der Leyen added, but she is expected to give an indication of what the restrictions will look like in September.

The report by co-chairs child psychiatrist Jorg Fegert and epidemiologist Maria Melchior offered a glimpse of how the EU's proposal could look like as they recommended:

• No screens at all for babies and toddlers;
• Supervised use of "age-appropriate social media" and devices children aged between three and 12 by parents or teachers;
• For those aged 13 to 18, "evolving autonomous use" of social media and other digital platforms that have "key safety features."

Many social media and video sharing platforms including TikTok and Meta's Facebook and Instagram are only available to children aged 13 and over.

Platforms "must prove that their services do no harm. In Europe, whoever develops a product is responsible for its safety," von der Leyen said.

"We are convinced that Europe must introduce protective measures to ensure the safety of children and adolescents in the digital world," Melchior said, standing next to von der Leyen.

The EU has already ramped up the pressure on social media platforms to change in recent months, telling Facebook and Instagram Friday to dismantle their "addictive" features, after a similar warning to TikTok in February.

Divided EU positions

The report did not recommend a blanket ban on digital platforms including social media, and von der Leyen did not back such a move.

What the panel found was the Australian ban faced difficulties as children found ways around the limits, forcing the EU to reconsider its approach.

Instead, it wants platforms to remove or limit features like autoplay content, infinite scroll, and push notifications.

The European Parliament in October called for a ban on social media for children under the age of 16, a position some EU lawmakers continued to back – although divisions remain over the age.

"I still believe the age should be 15, not 13. 13 is already the minimum age used by most major social media platforms today," EU lawmaker Christel Schaldemose said in a statement after the panel's report.

There will likely be difficult negotiations since any EU proposal will only become law after talks between the parliament and member states.

Targeting harmful design

A dilemma for the EU is how to avoid different age limits across 27 countries. For example, Spain wants to ban under-16s accessing social networks, while France proposes prohibiting children aged 15 and under.

And then there are EU nations such as Estonia that oppose a ban.

Von der Leyen said the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, would "have a very careful look" at the national proposals.

Brussels will "integrate" their work, she said, and then prepare its own proposal to "harmonize the approach and to find a common solution."

The EU already has a bolstered armory to rein in Big Tech and protect users online, and the commission has said more rules are on the way.

EU consumer protection chief Michael McGrath vowed a new law, expected later this year, will give children stronger protection against addictive design.