The European Commission is moving toward age-based restrictions on children’s social media use after a new report found that European children spend up to six hours a day on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the move at a press conference on July 13.
The Philippine Congress is weighing several parallel measures. Senate Bill No. 2066, filed by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, and Senate Bill No. 1955, filed by Sen. Loren Legarda, both propose a minimum social media age of 16, matching the threshold Australia already enforces. House Bill No. 9825, or the Digital Safety of Minors Act, calls for age-verification tools for users between 16 and 18 and stricter parental consent rules for younger children. Digital Secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda of the Department of Information and Communications Technology said the government is studying Australia’s and Singapore’s frameworks and is targeting local age-based rules by the third quarter of 2026.
The EU report, written by child psychologist Dr. Jörg M. Fegert and epidemiologist Dr. Maria Melchior, found that European children spend four to six hours a day on social media. Nearly 60 percent showed signs of socio-emotional development issues linked to platform use, including sleep and concentration problems and higher rates of depression and anxiety. Based on these findings, the report recommends barring children under 13 from social media unless supervised by a parent or teacher, limiting teenagers aged 13 to 18 to platforms with safety features such as caps on infinite scrolling, and blocking screen access entirely for children under three.
“It is clear we need age-appropriate restrictions to platforms,” von der Leyen said. “This is not about whether children can access social media. It is about whether and when social media can access our children.”
Australia was the first country to bar children under 16 from social media, and France, Germany, and Spain are reviewing similar measures. Florida enacted a ban in 2024 for children under 14 without parental approval. Critics of Australia’s law say minors can bypass it by lying about their age or using fake accounts; the Australian government recently doubled the maximum penalty for noncompliant platforms to 99 million AUD, or about $68 million.
If enacted, an EU-wide law would be the largest social media restriction effort to date, covering roughly 81 million people under 18 among the bloc’s 450 million residents, though it would require agreement from all 27 member states. The Philippines, home to an estimated 97.5 million internet users out of a population of about 116 million according to a 2025 study by media monitoring firm Meltwater, is on a faster regulatory timeline: DICT’s third-quarter 2026 target would arrive before the European Commission’s proposal, which von der Leyen said is expected “after the summer.”
The European Commission will review the report and present a formal proposal after the summer, von der Leyen said. In the Philippines, the pending measures remain in committee, including Legarda’s bill, which is before the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media.
