A spokesperson from the European Commission stated that additional national duties imposed on social media platforms are unacceptable under the bloc’s comprehensive digital legislation.
Countries within the European Union intending to enforce extra regulations on social media platforms should avoid interfering with the European Commission’s authority, a representative for the executive declared on Wednesday following Spain’s announcement of a social media ban for under-16s.
«Naturally, we acknowledge that member states may wish to advance further, possibly by limiting social media access for minors,” Thomas Regnier, the Commission’s tech spokesperson, conveyed to journalists on Wednesday.
«Implementing measures or demanding extra obligations from platforms (…) is strictly prohibited, as these matters fall under the Digital Services Act (DSA),” Regnier warned, referring to the EU’s key legal framework aimed at eliminating illegal content and safeguarding minors online.
«Our goal extends beyond protecting only children in Spain; the DSA is designed to shield all individuals across Europe,” he added.
«There is no necessity to encroach upon the DSA’s domain.»
On Tuesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced plans for a social media ban targeting users under 16 and legislative changes to criminalize those «ultimately responsible» for algorithm manipulation, aiming to protect users from what he described as a «digital wild west».
This statement provoked strong criticism from Elon Musk, owner of X, who labeled Sánchez as a «tyrant and traitor».
More EU governments are now considering specific prohibitions on social media platforms for teenagers, following Australia’s unprecedented initiative.
Seven EU member states – Austria, Denmark, France, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal – have either declared or are reportedly mulling over such restrictions, referencing scientific studies on the psychological harm inflicted.
Some of these nations have begun developing national age-verification applications, prompting discussions about whether a unified EU-level strategy would be more suitable.
The European Commission has previously affirmed that national governments are entitled to establish such bans but should avoid imposing supplementary platform-specific requirements to prevent conflicts with the DSA.
When asked if national governments were outpacing Brussels, the spokesperson commented that member states are «taking action at the appropriate time,» noting that the Commission has been developing its own age verification app over the past two years.
Under increasing pressure to harmonize approaches due to the cross-border nature of digital services, the EU executive assembled a panel of experts to examine possible age limits on social platforms, following President Ursula von der Leyen’s endorsement last September of the concept of a “digital majority age”.
Spain’s Sánchez confirmed on Tuesday that platforms would be obliged to implement genuine age verification mechanisms – «not simply tick boxes, but effective barriers».
The Commission also appeared to distance itself from Spain’s proposal to penalize corporate platform owners by indicating its regulations target the platforms as entities rather than individual actors.
Additionally, the executive emphasized its cooperative relationships with compliance teams of tech platforms, praising TikTok as «highly collaborative» with the DSA requirements.