Speech by President von der Leyen at the high-level dialogue on ‘Protecting Children's Rights facing Artificial Intelligence'

Thank you very much for convening this meeting, it is absolutely high time. I would like to tell you a little bit about what we are doing here in the European Union in view of social media.

Let me start with some striking figures – in our July Eurobarometer, 92% of Europeans say we should engage more in protecting children online. Young people in Europe spend on average 4 to 6 hours on screens - a day. For those who started before the age of 10, it is even more. They spend around 7 to 8 hours online. This is almost a full working day for an adult.

Second, our children are engaging with some of the most sophisticated technology ever created. And it was not created with children's wellbeing or development in mind. Platforms are designed to capture attention. The goal is to keep the children online and monetise their attention. If you look at the Meta settlement, it speaks volume. Meta is admitting to not having protected children enough. They created the algorithm. So it is absolutely time for us to act. And there is a growing body of strong evidence right now in the medical field on the harm that social media does to children. We have experts here at the table who can much more than me describe what is going on. This is the reason why we convened a panel of experts for six months, including civil society, parents' organization, youth, to figure out what can we do and how should we shape an act if it's necessary. Just last week, we presented our EU KIDS Act. The KIDS Act says, no social media under 13. No personal accounts under 15. That means, from 13 until a child turns 15, only mini accounts set up and supervised by parents, with limited features and time restriction – 60 minutes a day, but the parents can reduce this time. For me the most important part of this law was and is that we will reverse the burden of proof. Today, under the DSA and the DMA, the European Commission has to assess, for example, whether algorithms are harming children. But the process can be tedious. It takes months to investigate. Then months of discussions with the platforms. They make some changes. And more months pass. In the end, three, four, five years may have gone by before a fine is imposed. But by then, an entire generation of children has grown up with those harmful algorithms. So the reversal of the burden of proof means the responsibility is on the platforms to prove they are safe for children. If this is not the case, they do not get access to our children.

So to sum up: it is not a question whether children can access social media, it is a question of how and when we allow social media to access our children.

Thank you very much.