Keynote address by President von der Leyen at the European Summit on Artificial Intelligence and Children

“Check against delivery”

Your Royal Highness,

Excellencies, 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for putting the spotlight on this topic, protecting children in the digital age. This is an issue parents worry about all across Europe and, as we heard, everyone here in this room. It is good that we discuss it here today, because Denmark has emphasized the light and shadow of the digital world early on. A decade ago, it was among the first to recognise the vast opportunities of digital learning – bringing screens and new technologies into schools. And today, Denmark is once again taking the lead, this time by confronting the risks – above all, those posed by social media. That is why it is so inspiring to hold this debate here in Copenhagen today, in a spirit of leadership. The leadership from those who do not fear the pace of technological change but recognise that we must build a digital world where our children can grow up free and secure, protected by the values that Europe stands for. This is what must guide us.

We all recognise the extraordinary opportunities this technological revolution brings. Many young people speak passionately of how technology gives them a sense of belonging. These are wonderful things. They show the digital world at its best. A place to access knowledge; a place to find advice and support; a place that creates new avenues for exchange, creativity and humour. The possibilities are vast, but as we all know, the dangers are just as great, because children are not little adults. Their minds are delicate, their psychological vulnerability profound – mental wounds can be lifechanging. The more they are exposed to the digital world, the greater the risks. Likes, shares, retweets, clicks – social media validations are increasingly dictating how they think and feel. Constant judgment, constant comparison and constant fear of not being enough. The pressure can be overwhelming, and they are being exposed at a moment when their resilience is only just beginning to grow, because they are still children. We all know the consequences: sleep deprivation, depression, anxiety, self-harm, addictive behaviour, cyberbullying, grooming, exploitation, suicide. And with the rapid advance of artificial intelligence, these risks are multiplying fast. These risks are the reality of the digital world. And let me be clear: they are not accidental. They are the result of business models that treat our children's attention as a commodity. The more attention, the higher the profit. A Danish children's rights organisation found that nearly half of the content children see on social media is advertising. Young men are getting hooked on games that are designed to manipulate them into spending more and more money. Young women are targeted with beauty product ads the moment they untag themselves in a photo. These are deliberate choices by tech providers – choices made – so they can profit from children's vulnerability to cash in on their fears and moments of self-doubt. There is a reason why some call it ‘the greatest brain hack in human history'.

So this is about more than just technical questions of media use. It is about childhood itself, about what children mean to us. Children are not commodities, and no tech company in the world should be allowed to treat them as such. Children are children – with their dreams, their curiosity, their openness.

I am aware that many perceive the power of major tech corporations as overwhelming and impossible to roll back. I disagree; we do not have to accept addictive social media designs. We do not have to accept children being drawn into ever more extreme content. We do not have to accept that girls and women have their photos used for AI generated sexualised images. Europe has the power to act. It is us who decide our rules, not big tech. We are taking action against TikTok and its addictive design – endless scrolling, autoplay and push notifications. The same applies to Meta, because we believe Instagram and Facebook are failing to enforce their own minimum age of 13. We launched proceedings against X, for Grok's use in creating and spreading material depicting child sexual abuse. We are investigating platforms that allow children to go down ‘rabbit holes' of harmful content – such as videos that promote eating-disorders or self-harm. All of this is possible because we have created a powerful tool – the Digital Services Act. And we have also created the Digital Markets Act to prevent platforms from abusing market power. We have already closed cases with Apple and Meta, with investigation ongoing with Google. We have shown that we will forge ahead, despite the headwinds we face. We have set rules, it is the law and those who break it will be held accountable.

But we also know we must do more. That is why we established a ‘Special Panel of experts on Child Safety Online' to advise us. Without pre-empting the panel's findings, I believe we must consider a social media delay. Depending on the results, we could come with a legal proposal this summer. We are witnessing the lightning speed at which technology is advancing – and how it penetrates every corner of childhood and adolescence. And the discussions about a minimum age for social media can no longer be ignored. Almost all EU Member States call for an assessment on the need for it. At the moment, Denmark wants to introduce one, nine other Member States too. The European Parliament has come to the same conclusion. The question is not whether young people should have access to social media, the question is whether social media should have access to young people. Childhood and early adolescence are formative years, and I believe we should give our children more time to become resilient in this vulnerable phase. Time to play with real friends, not chase followers. Time on the football pitch or playing in a band. Time to develop their own ideas, not being led by an algorithm. Time to learn the difference between reality and falsehood. So, let us give childhood back to children. A childhood free to experiment, because that is what childhood is about. And what allows children to mature, to learn how to handle pressure, navigate social dynamics and build self-confidence. And let us help parents navigate a difficult stage of development. I am sure many of you in this room have had the same conversations about how much time on social media is too much, about the balance between protecting our children online while not excluding them from the world of their friends. The responsibilities of parents are already so high, so let us take this additional weight from their shoulders.

Here, we can learn from a pioneer. Australia has already taken this step, introducing a minimum age of 16. And we can see the progress – fewer children and teenagers have social media accounts. But there are also big challenges. While some platforms inform users and deactivate accounts, others do the opposite. Some are even actively encouraging teenagers to bypass these safeguards. We all know that sustainable change does not happen overnight. But if we are slow and hesitant, it will be another entire generation of children that pay the price. So let us be focused and define clear rules on how to structure a social media delay for Europe.

Finally, any age restriction model depends on reliable age verification. And here, we have good news: We have developed an age verification app that will soon be available, and it ticks all the boxes – the highest privacy standards in the world, it works on any device, it is easy to use and it is fully open source. Here in Denmark, it will be rolled out by summer. It is built on the success of our European COVID App. That App was used in 78 countries on 4 continents, so it is a proven and reliable model. And our Union is working with Member States to integrate it into their digital wallets. We have made the technology open source, so online platforms can easily adopt it. No more excuses – the technology for age verification is available.

Ladies and gentlemen,

An age limit does not mean letting tech companies off the hook for the content on their platforms. In Europe, whoever develops a product is responsible for its safety. Car manufacturers must make their vehicles safe. We do not expect children to design their own seatbelts. We do not expect parents to fit airbags at home. The same must apply to social media. Tech providers are responsible for the safety of their products and their safe use. That is Europe's principle, that is the basis of the Digital Services Act. High standards for privacy, security and the protection of minors are mandatory. And there are rules against addictive models, harmful content and unwanted contacts. This is ‘safety by design', and these protections should be strengthened and expanded. That is why we have made children's rights a priority in our rules for the development and use of AI. And later this year, we will target addictive and harmful design practices with the Digital Fairness Act – attention capture, complex contracts, subscription traps. In Europe, safety must be there from the start, not added as an afterthought.

And one more point, I have spoken about the need to give our children time to become more resilient. They need to develop their skills to act with autonomy – online and offline –, and we need to give them the means to learn. They need to understand the logic of social media, they need to learn how to protect themselves from negative effects and at the same time how to make use of the positive aspects. This is a task in which everyone has a role to play. Parents, who serve as role models. Teachers, who can help children build these competencies from an early age. Media organisations, NGOs, or journalists with their professional experience, they can show how to verify sources, identify fake news and AI-generated images. The principle is to encourage to think critically before clicking. Media education is a key task for society as a whole.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Europe can rightly be proud of being the best place in the world to grow up. A place where access to good education does not depend on parents' income. A place where healthcare is available when children need it, where children are free to play outside in safety and in freedom. It is our task to take these achievements into the digital age. The choices we make now should not be guided by fear, but by courage. We often say that children are our future, that includes the obligation that every child has the best possible chance to grow up free, protected and empowered. Because children are, above all, their own future, and we carry responsibility for them. All of us here in the room, and all across Europe. Let us take that responsibility seriously and lead.

Long live Europe.