EU urges fast roll-out of age verification app to protect minors online

BRUSSELS – The European Commission on April 29 urged member states to quickly adopt its new age verification app to protect minors from harmful content online, and to make sure the technology is available everywhere before the end of 2026.

The call followed the EU’s announcement earlier in April that the app was ready, amid a broader push by member states to limit children’s access to social media.

The commission now said its blueprint for the app had been finalised, and enabled users to prove they meet a required age threshold without revealing their exact age, identity or any other personal details.

“It will allow everybody to keep browsing the internet in full privacy while ensuring that children do not have access to content that is not meant for them,” EU commissioner Henna Virkkunen told reporters in Brussels.

The commission said it was now up to countries to create national age verification solutions in line with the blueprint.

The EU age verification can be used as a standalone app, it said, but can also be customised and be integrated into a so-called ‘digital identification wallet’, which member states are required to provide their citizens by the end of 2026.

According to EU regulations, online platforms are required to ensure the privacy and safety of minors online.

Earlier on April 29, Facebook and Instagram were charged with breaching the EU’s Digital Services Act for failing to prevent children under the age of 13 from accessing their services.

The European Commission in February said preliminary findings had shown that TikTok’s addictive design was in breach of the DSA. REUTERS