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Efforts to impose strict age checks on social media are intensifying across Europe. A coalition of EU governments is now pushing for mandatory age verification rules that could force millions of people to link their internet use to real-world ID systems, raising serious concerns for privacy advocates.
Eleven EU member states are pressing the European Commission to rewrite its guidance under the Digital Services Act to mandate age checks for social media platforms.
The countries backing this push include France, Ireland, Greece, and Austria, many of which have already launched national initiatives to regulate youth access to digital services.
But what’s being sold as a child-protection measure is, in practice, a significant expansion of digital identity demands.
In a letter submitted to the Commission, the governments argue that social media presents enough risk to warrant compulsory age verification.
“The well-documented presence of minors on social networks should be considered a sufficiently high-risk factor to require age verification as the only method of age assurance,” the statement reads.
