Five European Union member states — France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, and Greece — are launching a joint pilot program to test an age-verification system aimed at enhancing online protection for children and adolescents. The goal of the initiative is to limit minors’ exposure to harmful content on major platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and others.
The project involves the development of a digital tool that can verify a user’s age and automatically filter access to age-inappropriate materials. The system will be built using the same standards as the upcoming EU digital identity wallet, expected to be rolled out in 2026.
Each participating country will have the option to adapt the technology to its national needs — either as a standalone application or integrated into an existing government app. The effort is part of the broader enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA), which came into effect last year, and marks the EU’s first major step toward regulating online content for minors at a union-wide level.
At the same time, the European Commission has issued updated guidelines for online platforms — including Google, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X — to combat harmful content, addictive design features, online bullying, and more. Several of these platforms are already under investigation by European regulators over potential violations of the DSA.
Currently, the amount of harmful information consumed by young people online is enormous, and there is little sign that internet giants are making meaningful efforts to address the issue.
In the United States, dozens of states have filed lawsuits against Meta, accusing the company of negatively impacting teenage mental health. Meanwhile, Australia has enacted a ban on the use of social media by children under the age of 16.
The results of this EU pilot are expected to help determine whether the age-verification system can be scaled across the entire union in the coming years.
