On 18 June 2026 a legal exploration about de possibility of setting a minimum age for social media in the Netherlands was published.
This report was written by
dr. Paddy Leerssen and prof. dr. Joris van Hoboken.
The coalition agreement of the Jetten I Government states the intention to establish “[a]n enforceable European minimum age of 15 for social media, with privacy-friendly age verification for young people, as long as social media are not sufficiently safe”. Several legislative and policy choices remain open regarding the legal implementation of this intention. In this context, this report offers an exploration of the existing child protection rules for social media in the Netherlands, including applicable fundamental rights, as well as recent policy developments in other countries (Australia and France).
See also these media items about the report (in Dutch):