The European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) has called for stricter enforcement of EU digital rules to create a safer online environment for children and young people. In a report adopted on 14 July, MEPs urged online platforms to strengthen protections through privacy-by-design, age-appropriate services, algorithmic transparency and safety-by-default principles.

The report proposes banning the most harmful addictive design features, introducing a “youth mode” that disables targeted advertising and limits addictive functions for minors, and holding platforms accountable for repeated failures to protect children. MEPs also called for greater transparency around recommendation algorithms and content moderation systems.

Among other recommendations, the committee urged the European Commission to develop an EU code of conduct for influencers, protect children from commercial exploitation through “kidfluencing” and “sharenting”, and establish ethical standards for AI companions. It also called for stronger safeguards against AI-generated scams, non-consensual deepfake sexual content and synthetic child sexual abuse material, while promoting greater visibility for reliable, age-appropriate content online.

The report further stresses the need for consistent implementation of existing EU legislation, including the Digital Services Act, AI Act, GDPR and Audiovisual Media Services Directive, to strengthen child protection across the digital environment.