Estonia urges EU to make platforms protect children rather than impose a ban
Estonia is the only EU member pushing for platform design changes to safeguard minors, opposing the bloc’s planned social-media ban for children.
The European Union is preparing to announce a ban on children’s access to social-media platforms, with an age threshold of either 13 or 15 under discussion. Estonia stands alone in rejecting a blanket prohibition, insisting that the responsibility lies with the platforms themselves to redesign their services for younger users. Justice and digital affairs minister Liisa-Ly Pakosta emphasized that children are participants in the information society and that platform design should reflect their rights and welfare.
She pointed to the Digital Services Act as a tool to compel companies to adopt safer practices, urging that the EU’s current recommendations become legally enforceable. The commission has already used the DSA to investigate Meta’s Facebook and Instagram as well as TikTok, demanding changes to what it calls “addictive” design features.
How this was covered
- Left-leaning outlets covered this 15h later
- Centrist coverage is the most divided on this story
How the sides frame it
LOW AGREEMENTLeft-leaning and right-leaning coverage both highlight Macron’s push for an EU-wide ban on social-media use by under-15s, while centrist coverage emphasizes Estonia’s opposition and calls for platform-based safeguards instead of a ban.
CENTER
Reports Estonia’s stance that the EU should require platforms to redesign services for children rather than impose a blanket ban.
RIGHT
Frames Macron’s letter as a demand for a Europe-wide rule barring under-15s from social-media platforms to safeguard children.
The right emphasises
- essential to safeguard children
- legal instrument to prevent under-15s access
