The Commission has launched several investigations into online child protection.
advertisement
A European Commission spokesperson told Euronews that online platforms will be given specific guidelines under the Digital Services Act (DSA) on the protection of minors in the second quarter of 2025.
The move comes after the European Commission launched several investigations under the DSA to check whether online platforms' measures to protect minors comply with the rules.
Preparatory work has begun within the Digital Services Committee, which is made up of all the member states' DSA regulators and whose monthly meetings began in February last year with the aim of streamlining enforcement priorities. Protecting minors online is a priority area for the EU executive under the Platforms Regulation.
This is the second set of principles published under the DSA: the Commission already published electoral guidelines ahead of the EU vote in June to help very large online platforms and search engines mitigate the risks of influencing the integrity of elections and their services.
Meta investigates TikTok
The European Commission launched an investigation into Meta in May, focusing on the design of Facebook and Instagram's online interfaces, which the EU executive said “may exploit the vulnerabilities and inexperience of minors and provoke addictive behaviour.”
The European Commission launched a similar investigation in April after social media platform TikTok released its TikTok Lite app in France and Spain. The EU executive asked about the video-sharing app's potential impact on users' mental health, particularly its potential to stimulate addictive behavior. In response, TikTok announced that it would voluntarily suspend the rollout of Lite for the time being.
John Evans, digital services commissioner at Ireland's media regulator Coimisiún na Meán, told Euronews in March that several working groups were preparing topics that may require further action under the DSA board.
“[The focus is on] “We're working on thematic issues like elections and protecting minors. The big question is what's the best way to work together and understand the regulatory environment,” he said.
Ireland has been at the forefront of DSA enforcement since strict platform rules, including requirements on transparency and election integrity, began applying to all online platforms on February 17. Dublin is home to 13 of the 23 very large online platforms (VLOPs) and search engines designated by the European Commission so far, including Google, TikTok, Meta and fashion website Shein.
Election Guidelines
The DSA's election guidelines, released in March, were subject to voluntary stress testing by the platforms.
At the time, a European Commission spokesperson told Euronews that the aim of the initiative was to “help all parties better understand each other, their roles and responsibilities and their interdependencies, and to further foster the collaborative mindset envisaged by the DSA and the Electoral Guidelines.”
The first investigation under the DSA was formally launched against X in December, but the results are still awaited.
