European Union: Social Media

The EU Commission has unveiled a comprehensive proposal for the EU KIDS Act, introducing graduated age restrictions on children's social media access and extensive design limitations for online services. If enacted, the regulation would prohibit children under 15 from opening social media accounts on platforms with "risky features," while imposing strict functionality requirements and age assurance obligations across the digital ecosystem.

The European Commission has proposed the EU KIDS Act, establishing one of the most prescriptive child-safety frameworks yet at EU level. This comprehensive regulation would introduce graduated age-based access controls for social media, mandate safety-by-design requirements, and create a harmonized age-verification system across Member States. The proposal carries far-reaching implications for digital services accessible to minors, requiring providers to fundamentally redesign products, implement strict def

Een persoonlijk logo, een sponsorcontract en een groeiend bereik op sociale media kunnen een sporter al vroeg in de carrière commerciële waarde geven.

Digital platforms have evolved from neutral intermediaries into powerful economic regulators, wielding algorithmic systems that determine visibility, market access, and competitive survival. As automated enforcement mechanisms increasingly operate through opaque, inconsistent logic, legitimate operators face a paradoxical reality where transparency becomes vulnerability and compliance no longer guarantees protection.

Protection of minors is a topic that keep digital businesses awake at night. Legislators and regulators worldwide are moving fast in their effort to ensure online safety for minors. The European Union is not an exception, with its high standards of safety and privacy online. Cyprus, as an EU Member State, is also making steps towards finding an efficient solution to protect children in the digital environment.

In today's hyper-competitive global retail landscape, brand protection has evolved far beyond a legal formality — it is now a core pillar of corporate strategy. Organizations worldwide are turning to AI brand monitoring solutions and advanced trademark monitoring systems to safeguard their intellectual property at scale, speed, and precision that traditional methods simply cannot match.

To celebrate World Consumer Rights Day, the William Fry Technology team prepared a three part series highlighting key EU consumer law developments set to shape consumer digital contracts in 2026.

The application underlying the discussed decision concerns a method for selecting online content to present to users based on their content consumption behavior on a social media platform.

On the 6th of February 2026, the European Commission issued preliminary findings indicating that a major social media platform's design, specifically its use of infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications and a highly‑personalised recommender system, may breach the Digital Services Act (DSA). This through fostering compulsive use and undermining users' mental and physical wellbeing, with particular concern for minors and vulnerable adults.