European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced a forthcoming legislative initiative to implement age-based restrictions on social media and related digital services across the European Union.

歐盟委員會主席烏蘇拉·馮德萊恩宣布，即將推出一項立法倡議，在整個歐盟範圍內對社交媒體及相關數位服務實施基於年齡的限制。

The proposed regulatory shift is predicated on a report from the Special Panel on Child Safety Online, which advocates for a tiered access model based on developmental stages. This framework suggests a total prohibition of screen exposure for children under three, supervised utilization for those aged three to twelve, and a transition toward autonomous use for adolescents aged thirteen to eighteen. To facilitate this, the Commission intends to deploy an open-source, privacy-preserving age verification application designed to restore parental oversight of digital entry points.

此次提議的監管轉向是基於「兒童網路安全特別小組」的一份報告，該報告主張根據發育階段採取分層進入模式。此框架建議三歲以下兒童完全禁止接觸螢幕，三至十二歲則在監督下使用，而十三至十八歲的青少年則過渡至自主使用。為了實現這一目標，委員會擬部署一個開源且保護隱私的年齡驗證應用程式，旨在恢復家長對數位進入點的監管權。

Central to this strategy is the conceptualization of 'social media plus,' a category encompassing platforms characterized by addictive design elements and age-inappropriate content. The administration asserts that the legal burden of safety must reside with the developers rather than the end-users. Consequently, the Commission intends to utilize the Digital Services Act (DSA) to enforce 'safety-by-design' mandates, requiring platforms to demonstrate the absence of harm before granting access to minors. This approach follows recent regulatory actions against Meta and TikTok regarding addictive algorithms and 'dark patterns.'

此策略的核心在於將「社交媒體加 (social media plus)」概念化，該類別涵蓋具有成癮性設計元素且內容不符年齡的平台。行政部門主張，安全的法律責任應由開發者而非終端用戶承擔。因此，委員會擬利用《數位服務法》(DSA) 強制執行「設計即安全」指令，要求平台在允許未成年人進入前，必須證明其無害。此舉延續了近期針對 Meta 和 TikTok 關於成癮演算法及「暗黑模式」的監管行動。

This institutional movement occurs amidst a fragmented landscape of national policies, with member states such as France, Spain, and Greece pursuing varying age-based prohibitions, while others, such as Estonia, maintain opposition. The Commission seeks to harmonize these disparate national approaches into a unified bloc-wide standard. Furthermore, the initiative aligns with a broader global trend toward digital restriction, referencing the legislative precedents established in Australia and the United Kingdom, though the EU model emphasizes a burden of proof for providers over blanket prohibitions.

此次體制性變動發生在各國政策碎片化的背景下，法國、西班牙和希臘等成員國採取不同的年齡限制禁令，而愛沙尼亞等國則維持反對。委員會旨在將這些迥異的國家做法統一為全歐盟的標準。此外，該倡議符合全球數位限制的大趨勢，參考了澳洲和英國建立的立法先例，但歐盟模式更強調供應商的舉證責任，而非採取全面禁令。

The European Commission is expected to present a formal legislative proposal in the second half of the year to standardize age-appropriate digital access across the Union.

歐盟委員會預計將在今年下半年提交一份正式的立法建議，以統一全歐盟符合年齡要求的數位進入標準。