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(Bloomberg) — European countries are taking their broadest swipe yet at social media, with a growing number weighing bans of the services for minors and setting the stage for a new showdown with some of the biggest US companies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The policy was first implemented in Australia, encompassing Meta Platforms Inc.\u2019s Instagram and Facebook, Snap Inc., Elon Musk\u2019s X, TikTok and Google\u2019s YouTube. Now it\u2019s catching on in Europe, threatening to cut off access to millions of young users from services regulators call harmful and addictive \u2014 and the critical advertising dollars that come with them.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It took a pointedly political, ideological and personal turn when Spain became the latest country to propose a ban on services with the country\u2019s Socialist leader and Musk, who has called for the European Union to be abolished and saw his X offices in Paris raided, taking the fight public.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cSocial media has become a failed state,\u201d Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez said in a speech in Dubai on Tuesday. \u201cI know that it will not be easy. Social media companies are wealthier and more powerful than many nations, including mine. But their might and power should not scare us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Musk responded a few hours later on X: \u201cDirty S\u00e1nchez is a tyrant and traitor to the people of Spain.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
With at least six other countries \u2014 France, the UK, Portugal, Denmark, Greece and the Netherlands \u2014 and the EU is weighing similar limits, the moves signal a clear direction of travel and heighten the culture war with the Trump administration and some of the world\u2019s mightiest tycoons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Representatives for Meta Platforms Inc., Snap Inc., TikTok, YouTube and X did not respond to requests for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
While European regulators have repeatedly chastised US social media companies for monopolistic practices, their hoovering of consumer data and spread of harmful content has meant that antipathy to Silicon Valley has intensified in recent weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
That\u2019s largely due to outrage over Elon Musk\u2019s Grok after the artificial intelligence chatbot, managed by Musk\u2019s xAI, generated millions of non-consensual, sexualized images on his social platform X. Many were of women, but the undressed images included some children.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The company said it would rein in the tool, but regulators around the world jumped into action and it\u2019s also become a hot-button issue for politicians and sensitized voters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The European moves could trigger an aggressive response from President Donald Trump and his orbit. Europe has been a frequent target of his ire and the transatlantic partnership that has been a staple of the global order the past eight decades is near breaking point.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In December, Trump warned Europe \u201cto be very careful\u201d after EU tech regulators fined Musk\u2019s X $140 million for breaching its online content rule.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
After the fireworks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, tensions could easily erupt again later this month at the Munich Security Conference, where last year Vice President JD Vance accused Europeans of \u201cdigital censorship.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The personal animus was on display when S\u00e1nchez accused Musk of spreading \u201cdisinformation\u201d about Spain\u2019s move to regularize undocumented migrants. The billionaire had earlier retweeted a post that described it as \u201celectoral engineering.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cEarlier in Trump\u2019s presidency, there were concerns of retaliation if countries acted in too forceful a way against Big Tech,\u201d said Zach Meyers, director of research at the Centre on Regulation in Europe. \u201cThat\u2019s fallen away somewhat in recent months.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The platforms have much to lose if the pipeline of younger users is cut off. The likes of TikTok and Snapchat boomed off the back of adoption by teens, whose preferences for features such as filters, vertical video and disappearing posts have influenced consumer app design more generally.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
YouTube has a massive audience of children, which has invited political scrutiny in the past.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Still, these features are also seen as addictive and several of the biggest networks face litigation in the US, facing accusations that their products are harmful to young people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Europe is the second-largest region for many tech firms after North America, thanks to widespread tech adoption and a mature online advertising ecosystem. For both Snap Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc., revenue is growing faster in Europe than in the US.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cEurope is the cash cow for Big Tech, so this is a big problem for them, without any doubt,\u201d said Alicia Garc\u00eda Herrero, senior fellow at Bruegel, adding that the US would likely see bans as political.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Implementing such restrictions is not easy. Digital policy experts also question whether there\u2019s sufficient evidence that a ban would encourage children to spend more time offline.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Australia became the first in the world to crack down on social media for kids, with tech companies shutting down accounts in December for some 5 million children under 16.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Tech platforms have argued there that cutting minors from the services is difficult, if not impossible, and could lead to broader issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The process for proving age can involve sharing sensitive documents, like a driver\u2019s license or a passport, opening doors for cyber attacks or misuse of data. A ban also risks driving users to less legitimate services.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Countries looking to replicate Australia\u2019s laws will each have their own hurdles.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
French President Emmanuel Macron has been a fierce advocate for age limitations on social media. In 2024, he called screen addiction \u201cthe breeding ground for all kinds of problems: bullying, violence, dropping out of school.\u201d Last week, its national assembly adopted a ban on social media services for children under 15. The bill will now move to the senate for adoption.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
France, however, has struggled to enforce other internet policing measures. A recent law banning online pornography for minors required people to verify their age through third-party services. There\u2019s evidence that plenty of web users tapped virtual private networks, or VPNs, to mask their identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cVPNs are the next topic on my list,\u201d Anne Le H\u00e9nanff, France\u2019s minister for AI and digital affairs, said on French TV last week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
There were similar concerns when the UK imposed age checks and the country is consulting on different measures, such as restricting access by age, creating phone curfews and rules around addicted design. It expects to make a decision in the summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no point in having a consultation if I\u2019ve already made up my mind,\u201d Britain\u2019s Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said in an interview last month. \u201cThere are different views strongly held on both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n