Meta has publicly backed a new initiative in Europe aimed at tightening age restrictions for social media users. The proposal under discussion seeks to establish a common “Digital Majority Age” across EU member states, which would likely raise the minimum age for accessing social media platforms from the current general baseline of 13 years to 15 or possibly 16 years.
While Meta has not committed to a specific age limit, the company supports stronger age verification and monitoring measures designed to prevent younger users from encountering inappropriate content. Meta emphasizes the importance of consistent protections across digital platforms, noting the need for parental approval for younger ****s accessing social services.
Several EU countries – including France, Greece, and Denmark – have already expressed support for raising the minimum age to 15, while Spain favors 16, mirroring moves underway in Australia. The primary challenge lies in the lack of standardized processes to verify users’ ages, leaving platforms to implement varied and potentially inconsistent checks. Meta has experimented with advanced video age verification, which uses a selfie clip to confirm age, though concerns about privacy and data security persist.
To address enforcement difficulties, Meta proposes shifting responsibility for age verification to app stores at the point of download. This approach would require app providers to confirm user age and secure parental consent where applicable, rather than relying on individual platforms to perform these checks. However, major app stores like Apple and Google have resisted this model due to liability concerns. Meta’s support appears to be both a strategic move to reduce its own regulatory risk and a way to pressure competitors such as TikTok and Snapchat, which may be more impacted by tighter age restrictions.
