Sittings · Document

REPORT (2025/2081(INI)) 2026-08-28

On the impact of social media and the online environment on young people

Committee on Culture and Education · Rapporteur: Sandro Ruotolo

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Parliament's resolution on the impact of social media and the online environment on young people sets out an integrated European strategy combining safety and privacy by design, algorithmic transparency and privacy-first age verification. It asks for coherent enforcement of the AVMSD, GDPR, DSA, UCPD, Digital Markets Act, AI Act and the forthcoming Digital Fairness Act, and for resources for national authorities. It calls for stronger protection of minors on video-sharing platforms and social media, a ban on targeted advertising to minors, and rules on addictive design, influencers and loot boxes. It demands action on AI risks, including AI companions, deepfakes and synthetic child sexual abuse material, and on cyberbullying, gender-based online violence and mental health support. It asks for privacy-preserving age verification, a harmonised EU minimum digital age, parental control standards, digital and media literacy, and monitoring of child protection measures.

Committee position. The Committee on Culture and Education proposes a resolution calling for an integrated European strategy on social media's impact on young people, combining safety by design, algorithmic transparency, privacy-first age assurance, education and stronger enforcement of EU digital rules.

Key points

  1. Parliament calls for an integrated European strategy on social media's impact on young people, combining safety and privacy by design, age-appropriate design, algorithmic transparency and privacy-first age verification.
  2. It asks for coherent implementation and enforcement across the AVMSD, GDPR, DSA, UCPD, Digital Markets Act, AI Act and the forthcoming Digital Fairness Act, and for adequate resources for competent authorities.
  3. It calls for timely appointment of Digital Services Coordinators in all member states and for monitoring of measures protecting minors on online platforms, including against unfair commercial practices.
  4. It wants the AVMSD revision to strengthen protection of minors on video-sharing platforms, clarify obligations under Article 28b, and consider extending advertising transparency and minor-protection rules to major platforms.
  5. It calls on platforms hosting live streams to require labelling of gambling-like mechanisms and to apply protective defaults for users likely to be minors.
  6. It asks for GDPR reinforcement through default maximum privacy settings, a ban on targeted profiling and advertising to minors, minimalist data collection, and understandable terms and conditions.
  7. It calls on the Commission to close gaps in the Digital Fairness Act on addictive and manipulative design, dark patterns, personalised advertising, neuromarketing, loot boxes and influencer practices.
  8. It calls for enforcement of AI Act transparency obligations, protective defaults against engagement-driven design, and regulation of AI companions, including disclosures that the interlocutor is an AI and helpline referrals.
  9. It calls for a ban on AI systems generating non-consensual sexually explicit images and synthetic child sexual abuse material, and for criminalisation of all types of such material regardless of how it is created.
  10. It calls for action against cyberbullying, including prevention programmes, swift platform responses, transparent reporting, and long-term funding for helplines and hotlines in the Safer Internet Centres network.
  11. It calls for mental health support for young people, suicide-prevention protocols on major platforms, and measures to phase out the most harmful addictive practices.
  12. It calls for privacy-preserving age verification supervised by public authorities, a harmonised EU minimum digital age, EU minimum standards for parental controls, and digital, media and AI literacy programmes.

Who is affected

  • Children and young people in the EU, who would gain stronger protection, safety defaults and support services online.
  • Online platforms and video-sharing platforms, which would face obligations on design, advertising, reporting and age assurance.
  • Influencers, content creators and agencies, who would face transparency and code-of-conduct rules on advertising to minors.
  • Member states and their authorities, asked to fund and staff enforcement, data protection and consumer protection bodies.
  • Girls and young women, who face disproportionate online harassment and gender-based harms addressed by gender-sensitive safeguards.

Figures and deadlines

  • 97 %: share of young people in the EU using the internet daily in 2024.
  • Around 9 hours per day on screens for teenagers aged 11-14 and around 6 hours for children aged 8-10.
  • 3 hours per day: average social media use among children and young people aged 9-16, with over 80 % using platforms daily.
  • Approximately 1 in 6 children in Europe has experienced cyberbullying; between 13 % and 29 % report frequent bullying online and offline.
  • 1 in 10 women have experienced cyberviolence since the age of 15; 52 % of young women and girls have experienced online abuse, 68 % of it on social media.
  • Only 20 % of influencers systematically indicate the commercial nature of their content.
  • More than 11 % of adolescents show signs of problematic social media behaviour and 12 % are at risk of problematic gaming, with boys (16 %) more affected than girls (7 %).
  • 97 % of the most popular apps used by EU consumers employ at least one dark pattern.

Legal basis: Articles 2, 3, 114 and 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

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