Von der Leyen rejects blanket kids' social media ban but plan criticized for letting Big Tech off hook

The article analyzes the EU Commission's Special Panel on Child Safety Online report, which rejected a blanket ban on social media for children. While the panel and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are praised for shifting the burden to platforms to prove safety, the analysis criticizes key gaps. It notes that the EU's case against Meta over addictive design took over two years to reach a preliminary finding, allowing harm to continue. The report leaves the door open to age estimation via behavioral profiling, which EU data protection authorities warn can be more intrusive and less accurate than other methods. The article calls for a nimble ex-ante certification regime with clear safety standards, default protective settings, and swift, crippling penalties for non-compliance, arguing that social media apps should face the same upfront safety requirements as physical products like toys and food.