European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced plans to ban social media use for children under 13 across the European Union, according to infohub.kz.
She said young Europeans spend four to six hours a day in front of screens because algorithms are too effective at holding their attention.
"We are witnessing our children being completely captured. Their attention, their focus, their minds. This robs children of their childhood," she said.
Von der Leyen announced plans to adopt a "Child Protection Act" that would impose strict restrictions on social media use by minors.
"We will take a phased and differentiated approach. Each age has its own characteristics, so each will have its own level of protection. Social media will be banned for those under 13. Creating personal accounts will be banned for those under 15. This means that for those aged 13 to 15, only mini-accounts created and controlled by parents or guardians will be allowed, with a limited set of features and a time limit of one hour per day, and for those aged 15 to 18, platforms will be required to introduce safe design," the European Commission president said.
She added that the EU will not allow addictive films and series or children's engagement with increasingly extreme content.
"Now platforms will have to prove their safety to us, because this is not about our minors' access to social media. It is about when and how we give social media access to our minors. Europe has the right to act. It is we who set the rules, not big tech companies," she stressed.