“I see three steps on the EU level: mandatory legal requirement for age verification, a ban on harmful and addictive practices for minors and stronger enforcement,” she told POLITICO.
Denmark has imposed a ban on smartphones in schools since February, following France’s lead in 2018. A similar ban in Belgium came into effect this month.
Five EU countries — Denmark, Greece, France, Italy and Spain — are testing a European Commission age verification app, a new system designed to protect children online.
Last year, Ireland’s Department of Health established an online health task force to examine the links between specific types of online activity and physical and mental health harms to children and young people.
It’s also developing a strategic public health response to these harms, which it will bring forward in its final report next month.
Von der Leyen suggested she would wait to decide on EU-wide measures until she had received analysis of the Australian policy. It’s unclear how long European experts will have to do that, given that it comes into force in Australia on Dec. 10, and she wants the panel’s recommendations by year’s end.