Sittings · Document

Adopted text 2026-09-17

Impact of social media and the online environment on young people

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✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 20 Sept 2026

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, age-appropriate 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 adequate funding and staffing of national authorities. It calls for stronger protection of minors' data, a possible ban on targeted advertising to minors, and rules on addictive and manipulative design, influencers, loot boxes and AI companions. It asks for privacy-preserving age verification, a harmonised EU minimum digital age, minimum standards for parental control tools and a 'youth mode' for platforms. It demands action on cyberbullying, mental health support, gender-based online violence, AI-generated sexualised images and child sexual abuse material, plus digital, media and AI literacy and monitoring of platform measures.

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 aligned national measures to prevent fragmentation.
  3. It wants adequate resources in the 2028-2034 multiannual financial framework and more staff for Digital Services Coordinators, the European Board for Media Services and other national authorities, including psychological support for staff dealing with harmful content.
  4. It calls for timely appointment of Digital Services Coordinators in all member states and for the Commission to support consistent DSA implementation, using fines and corrective actions where necessary.
  5. It asks the Commission to consider extending AVMSD provisions on advertising transparency and protection of minors to major video-sharing platforms, and to clarify the status of influencers and content creators.
  6. It calls for explicit age-appropriate standards under the GDPR: maximum privacy settings by default, a ban on targeted profiling and advertising to minors, minimal data collection and child-friendly terms, and asks the Commission to consider a comprehensive ban on targeted advertising.
  7. It asks the Commission to close regulatory gaps in the Digital Fairness Act on addictive and manipulative design, dark patterns, personalised advertising, neuromarketing, loot boxes, in-app currencies and unfair influencer practices.
  8. It calls for enforcement of AI Act transparency rules, including watermarking and labelling of AI-generated content, protective defaults against engagement-driven design, and rules on AI companions, including disclosure that the interlocutor is an AI and referral of users expressing self-harm ideation to helplines.
  9. It calls for a ban on AI systems generating non-consensual sexualised images and synthetic child sexual abuse material, criminalisation of all types of child sexual abuse material, and swift takedown and cross-platform hashing of known abuse material.
  10. It urges platforms to respond swiftly to cyberbullying, report on prevalence and enforcement, provide minors with accessible reporting interfaces, and cooperate with civil society, schools and child protection services.
  11. It calls for rapid access to mental health support for young people, school counselling, suicide-prevention protocols on major platforms, and risk-based safeguards and bans on the most harmful addictive practices.
  12. It calls for privacy-preserving age verification supervised by public authorities, a harmonised EU minimum digital age, minimum functional standards and certification for parental control tools, and a 'youth mode' disabling targeted advertising and limiting addictive design for minors.

Who is affected

  • Children and young people in the EU, who would gain stronger privacy, safety and age-appropriate design protections online.
  • Online platforms and video-sharing platforms, which would face obligations on defaults, advertising, reporting tools, age verification and algorithmic transparency.
  • Influencers, content creators and agencies, who would face transparency rules and a possible EU code of conduct.
  • Member states and national authorities, which are asked to fund and staff enforcement bodies and adopt rules on devices in schools.
  • Parents and guardians, who are offered education, guidance and minimum standards for parental control tools.

Figures and deadlines

  • 97 %: share of young people in the EU using the internet daily on average in 2024.
  • Around 9 hours per day on screens for teenagers aged 11-14 and around 6 hours for children aged 8-10, per 2025 global data.
  • 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 platforms.
  • 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 at 16 % and girls at 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.

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text and ¶ links to the paragraph it rests on. Check the text itself before relying on it.