The European Union is preparing new regulatory actions aimed at social media platforms that regulators believe encourage addictive behavior among children and teenagers.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Tuesday that the bloc intends to target platform features such as endless scrolling, autoplay functions, and push notifications.
The comments were delivered during the European Summit on Artificial Intelligence and Children held in Denmark.
The move represents the latest escalation in Europe’s broader campaign to tighten oversight of major technology companies and strengthen online protections for minors.

TikTok and Instagram Under Scrutiny

The EU specifically identified TikTok and Instagram as central targets of the upcoming regulatory efforts.
Von der Leyen said regulators believe some social media platforms are failing to properly enforce minimum age requirements and are exposing children to harmful content pathways.
She criticized features designed to maximize engagement, arguing that recommendation systems can lead children into “rabbit holes” involving dangerous material related to self-harm, eating disorders, and other harmful behavior.
The European Commission also indicated concerns extend to Facebook, which shares parent ownership with Instagram under Meta Platforms.
Meanwhile, TikTok is owned by ByteDance.

Age Verification Measures Accelerate

The EU said it has developed a new age-verification application designed to strengthen protections for minors while maintaining strong privacy standards.
According to von der Leyen, the system will soon be integrated into member states’ digital wallet infrastructure and can be enforced directly by online platforms.
The initiative is intended to remove what regulators describe as excuses by technology companies regarding the difficulty of verifying users’ ages online.
European regulators increasingly view age verification as a central component of future internet governance and child protection frameworks.

Global Governments Tighten Social Media Oversight

Governments around the world are intensifying scrutiny of social media companies amid rising concerns about mental health impacts, online addiction, harmful algorithms, and exposure to dangerous content among younger users.
Several countries are evaluating or implementing legislation aimed at restricting minors’ access to certain online services, increasing parental controls, and limiting addictive platform design features.
The European Union has become one of the most aggressive global regulators of large technology firms in recent years, using legislation such as the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act to impose stricter compliance requirements.

Additional Investigations Continue

The European Commission also recently launched an investigation into X, owned by Elon Musk.
The investigation focuses on allegations involving the spread of sexually explicit non-consensual AI-generated content involving women and children through the platform’s Grok chatbot technology.
The expanding investigations highlight how regulators are increasingly focusing not only on platform moderation but also on artificial intelligence systems integrated into social media services.