President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen earlier this week received the report of the Special Panel on Child Safety Online alongside the panel's co-chairs, Dr Melchior and Professor Fegert. The panel was first announced by President von der Leyen in her 2025 State of the Union Address to examine how best to protect children online and how to establish a safer digital environment going forward.
Children's wellbeing – on and offline – is a cause close to the President's heart. When launching the panel, the President committed to an inclusive process, bringing together experts, parents, and young people themselves. She detailed: "We will approach this carefully and listen to everyone. And in all of this work we will be guided by the need to empower parents and build a safer Europe for our children. Because when it comes to our kids' safety online, Europe believes in parents, not profits."
The panel's work took place in the context of growing international momentum. In September 2025, President von der Leyen took part in the high-profile event 'Protecting Children in the Digital Age' organised by the Australian Prime Minister Albanese and praised Australia's leadership on the issue. At the event, she stated: "Since the announcement of Australia's landmark minimum age law, I have been watching closely. And I have been inspired by Australia's example. (…) We will be learning from you as you implement your world-first, and world-leading social media ban." Indeed, the Special Panel paid close attention to early results from Australia, and the report has been informed by this example.
This Spring, the Commission released a digital age verification app that can confirm users' ages without giving access to personal information. "It is our duty to protect our children in the online world, just as we do in the offline world. And to do that effectively, we need a harmonised European approach.", the President said when talking to media.
The President reinforced this message at the G7 in June, where she underlined the responsibility of platforms: "The debate is not whether young people should have access to social media; the debate is whether social media should have access to our children and teenagers, and when (...) In Europe, platforms must prove that they are safe by design." Indeed, the idea of safety by design – building products that are safe by default – has become a defining principle of the Commission's efforts to protect young people online.
The Report presented today brings together the perspectives of experts, educators, technologists, psychologists, parents, and young people, it explores how online platforms shape children's experiences, development, and wellbeing, and offers recommendations for future action. The report also takes a "social media plus" approach, extending its recommendations to other digital services that contain risky, inappropriate, or addictive features.
As the President explained, the goal of age restrictions is to give young people time: "Childhood is a period of extraordinary and delicate brain development. During this stage, our children need time in the real world. Time to play, to build friendships face-to-face, to make mistakes. Time to shape their own identities, their own personalities, before an algorithm shapes them instead. I believe we need to give our children this time."
With the report now in hand, the President and Commission will review the panel's recommendations in detail. A proposal based on the report will be put forward by the Commission after the Summer.
