The Commission will offer details regarding the realization of the program.
The European Commission has presented guidelines for the protection of minors under the Digital Services Act (DSA), along with a prototype of an age verification app for the internet. The guidelines aim to give young users more control over what they see online, while the app is designed to ensure a high level of privacy and security for children.
The app will be tested and further adapted during a pilot phase in collaboration with EU member states, online platforms, and end-users. Denmark, Greece, Spain, France, and Italy will be the first to use the app during this phase. The participating member states during the pilot phase also include Belgium, Estonia, Finland, and the Netherlands.
The guidelines provide practical recommendations for all online platforms to proactively address risks from harmful or age-inappropriate content. The app will verify the age of users, ensuring that minors are less exposed to practices that can foster addictive behavior and prevent them from being exposed to sexualized or intimate content.
The age verification concept forms the basis for a future wider introduction of age-appropriate services and is based on the same technical specifications as the European digital identity wallet. The app can be integrated into a national app or used as a standalone app, and it protects privacy by not revealing full personal information such as exact age or identity when proving age.
The development of the age verification concept was a comprehensive process that included investigations, workshops with stakeholders, expert involvement, and a targeted public consultation. The guidelines suggest that minors should have the ability to block or mute users to prevent them from being added to groups without their explicit consent, and platforms should set the accounts of minor users to "private" by default, making them invisible to other users not on their friends list.
A ban on downloading or taking screenshots of content posted by minors aims to prevent the spread of sexualized or intimate content. The guidelines on the protection of minors specify when and how online platforms should verify the age of their users, and the age verification methods should be accurate, reliable, robust, unobtrusive, and non-discriminatory.
The age verification app prototype developed by the European Commission is user-friendly and aims to set new standards for age verification on the internet. The guidelines and concept of age verification build on discussions within the Working Group on the Protection of Minors, which is part of the European Board for Digital Services.
The guidelines for the Protection of Minors under the DSA were presented on July 14, 2025, marking a significant step towards ensuring a safer and more secure online environment for young users across Europe.
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