Written question – Possible measures to combat addictive behaviours among young people on social media – E-001715/2025

Question for written answer  E-001715/2025/rev.1
to the Commission
Rule 144
Lukas Mandl (PPE)

The 2025 Ö3 Youth Study found that 85 % of 15 to 16-year-olds are in favour of setting a minimum age of 16 for using social media. The minimum age currently applied by most platforms is 13, but checks are patchy.

• 1.What steps is the Commission taking to look into the benefits of a minimum age higher than 13 – with regard to, for instance, education and training, mental health and addiction prevention, social contact and peer education, as well as the spread of disinformation and hate speech?
• 2.What steps is the Commission taking to look into the drawbacks of a minimum age higher than 13 – such as a lack of international contacts, restrictions on potential creativity, reduced capacity for innovation and parallel structures to bypass the rules?[1]

Submitted: 29.4.2025

• [1] Ö3 Youth Study 2025, https://www.oe3jugendstudie.at/ergebnisse.php