Von der Leyen rejects blanket kids' social media ban but plan lets Big Tech off the hook

The article analyzes the EU Commission's Special Panel on Child Safety Online report, which recommends that social media platforms prove their products are safe before children can use them, rather than imposing a blanket ban. While the panel rejects blanket bans as putting burden on families, it leaves the door open to age estimation via behavioral profiling, which EU data protection authorities warn can be more intrusive and less accurate. The article criticizes slow enforcement, citing Meta's case taking over two years for a preliminary finding, and proposes a nimble ex-ante certification regime with off-by-default addictive features, prohibitions on manipulative design, and swift penalties. It argues that physical products like toys have strict safety rules, but social media apps remain exempt, and calls for AI-enabled interoperability to provide alternatives for children turned away from unsafe platforms.