In a plenary session in Strasbourg, France, MEPs approved the report with 483 votes in favour, 92 against, and 86 abstentions. The report calls for greater protection for minors accessing social media.

The document stipulates that minors can access social media from the age of 13, but only with the consent of their parents or legal guardians.

MEPs asked the European Commission to develop a digital application to verify age, integrated into social media access platforms, and a “European digital identity card”.

According to the report approved by the European Parliament, these age verification mechanisms should be scrupulously enforced and uniform across the EU to protect minors from harmful and illegal content and from networks of sexual predators.

The document suggests that senior officials of major digital platforms could be held accountable for non-compliance with these rules, particularly regarding measures to protect minors and age verification.

Bans

The European Parliament also called on the European Commission to demand a ban on addictive practices on social media and to deactivate addictive presets on these digital platforms, such as infinite scrolling.

Social networks like TikTok allow users to scroll without reaching the 'bottom' of the platform.

At the same time, MEPs want social networks, and the companies behind these platforms, to control targeted advertising and the activity of 'digital influencers' – people who produce content for social networks and receive remuneration for it, enticing users to stay longer on social media.

The European Parliament also calls for a ban on rewards for staying connected on social media.

Platforms like Twitch, a social network primarily for live streaming video games, reward users who remain connected with downloadable digital content for video games. Rewards are usually granted after between one and six hours of continuous viewing.

Artificial intelligence

The European Parliament also warned of the danger of the widespread use of generative artificial intelligence, particularly in digital applications being used to create pornographic content involving minors, for example, by digitally placing girls' faces on women's bodies, manipulating children's images without their consent.

Generative artificial intelligence is also being used to replace real social interaction, and there are reported episodes of children who, after prolonged conversations with artificial intelligence systems, ended up committing acts of violence against themselves or others.