EU to soon roll out age-check app for social media where India could be looking to follow

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday said the EU’s age-verification app for online platforms is “technically ready” and will soon be rolled out, marking one of the bloc’s most concrete steps yet to curb children’s access to social media.

Speaking at a press conference in Brussels alongside EU digital chief Henna Virkkunen, von der Leyen said the app would work across devices, remain open-source and anonymous, and serve as a “powerful tool” for parents, teachers and caregivers to protect children online. She added that the EU would move “with full speed and determination” to enforce its digital rules, warning of “zero tolerance” for platforms that fail to respect children’s rights.

Also Read: Indian parents back social media ban for under-16s, new UK survey finds


Virkkunen said the EU will also set up a coordination mechanism to align national age-verification systems across member states.

India begins testing the waters

A similar conversation is now unfolding in India, though largely at the state level.

In Karnataka, the government has announced a ban on social media use for children under 16, making it the first state in the country to take such a step. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the move is aimed at preventing the “adverse effects of increasing mobile usage on children.” The timeline for implementation remains unclear.

Additionally, Andhra Pradesh is exploring a more calibrated approach. The state is considering issuing “age tokens” linked to DigiLocker to verify users’ ages without compromising privacy. IT Minister Nara Lokesh said the government is evaluating an “age-gated digital ecosystem,” including a ban on social media for children below 13 and restrictions for those aged 13–16.

The proposal is being examined by a Group of Ministers, which is also studying global models. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said the effort is aimed at building a “safer and more responsible digital ecosystem,” with a focus on protecting children from addictive content and women from online abuse.

Also Read: Andhra Pradesh to draft law to restrict social media access to 13 year olds

Earlier in March, ET also reported quoting several officials that the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has held at least three consultations with social media platforms and other stakeholders to gauge the technical capabilities of online intermediaries in curbing access to users from specific age brackets.

The Economic Survey in January also flagged excessive use of digital devices as an emerging addiction concern among both children and adults, calling for age-based access controls across online platforms in India. It highlighted the need for a comprehensive set of indicators to assess the multidimensional impact of interventions aimed at tackling digital addiction.

“Platforms should be made responsible for enforcing age verification and age-appropriate defaults, particularly for social media, gambling apps, auto-play features, and targeted advertising,” the survey said.

A global regulatory wave

India’s moves mirror a broader global trend, with several countries either implementing or considering restrictions on children’s social media use.

Australia has gone the furthest so far, becoming the first country to ban social media for children under 16. The law, introduced in December 2025, requires platforms including those owned by Meta Platforms, Snap Inc. and TikTok to actively prevent underage users, with penalties of up to AUD 49.5 million for non-compliance.

In Denmark, the government has secured political backing to ban social media for children under 15, with legislation expected by mid-2026. France has passed a similar bill for under-15s, backed by President Emmanuel Macron, though it is yet to complete the legislative process.

Also Read: Screen addiction is taking a toll on India’s youth and productivity, Economic Survey warns

Other countries are moving in the same direction. Greece plans to ban access for under-15s by 2027, citing rising anxiety and sleep disorders among children. Indonesia has announced a ban for users under 16, while Malaysia and Slovenia are drafting similar laws. Spain and the United Kingdom are still weighing options, including limits on features such as infinite scrolling that are seen as driving compulsive use.

The rationale across these jurisdictions is broadly similar: concerns around cyberbullying, exposure to predators, addictive design, and the impact of prolonged screen time on mental health. At the same time, critics — including Amnesty International’s tech arm — have raised concerns about privacy, particularly around intrusive age-verification systems, and questioned whether outright bans are effective.

US courts push accountability

While governments debate policy, courts in the United States are beginning to shape the conversation.

During a trial in March, a jury found Meta Platforms and Alphabet Inc.’s Google liable for designing platforms that contributed to a young user’s addiction and mental health issues. The plaintiff was awarded $6 million in damages after jurors concluded the companies acted with “malice, oppression, or fraud.”

The case focused on design features such as infinite scroll and algorithm-driven feeds, which lawyers argued were built to maximise engagement among young users. Both companies have said they will appeal, maintaining that teen mental health is complex and cannot be attributed to a single platform.

In a separate case, a jury in New Mexico found Meta violated state law and ordered it to pay $375 million in civil penalties over claims it misled users about safety and enabled child sexual exploitation. The verdict followed an investigation by the state’s attorney general, who accused the company of failing to implement basic safeguards.

Together, the rulings are being seen as a potential inflection point. They are among the first jury decisions to directly address platform design — rather than content — and could influence thousands of similar lawsuits currently underway in the US.

Also Read: Meta, Google ordered to pay $3 million in a landmark social media trial — what happens next

Why this is important

What ties these developments together is a growing recognition that social media platforms are not neutral tools. Evidence presented in court — including internal documents and user testimony — suggests they are engineered to maximise attention, often with younger users as a key demographic.

In the US trial, the plaintiff said she began using Instagram at nine and YouTube at six, encountering no meaningful age checks. She later developed anxiety, depression and body image issues, which her lawyers linked to prolonged exposure and platform features such as filters and endless scrolling.

For policymakers, that raises a difficult question: how to protect children without over-regulating the internet. In Europe, the answer is leaning toward enforceable rules and technical solutions like age verification. In India, states are experimenting with bans and identity-linked systems. In the US, courts are stepping in where legislation has lagged.

The direction of travel, however, is clear. Whether through regulation, litigation or platform redesign, governments are signalling that the current model — where children can easily access and spend hours on social media — is no longer acceptable.