Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is urging European policymakers to reconsider proposals restricting teenagers’ access to social media, arguing that age verification should be handled at the app-store level rather than through blanket bans.
“A centralised system of age verification that supports all apps would enable age-based protections for teenagers, helping ensure they use apps that are safe for them. Together, platforms and policymakers can help keep teenagers safe,” the company says in ads running in Politico.
The intervention comes as governments across Europe are putting in place restrictive measures for children online. Yesterday, in the UK, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a social media ban for under-16s.
Meta is advocating for age verification and parental consent mechanisms to be handled centrally through Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store, a position that contrasts with the European Commission’s approach.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Union’s long-planned age-verification app is now “technically ready to use” and has urged member states to begin deploying the system.
Meta argues that requiring users to upload passports, identity cards or other sensitive documents to individual platforms would create significant privacy and cybersecurity risks.
Meta’s push has also drawn criticism.
Critics argue that app-store-based age verification would further consolidate power in the hands of Apple and Google. With META push checks would be tied to operating systems and official app stores, independent operating systems and third-party app marketplaces could face additional barriers.
Requiring a valid government ID or credit card locks out adults who lack traditional documentation, such as undocumented immigrants, unbanked individuals, or refugees.
Privacy advocates have also raised concerns about the potential loss of anonymity online.
They argue that linking passports, driver’s licences or other identity documents to Apple or Google accounts could create a permanent connection between a person’s real-world identity and their online activities, including app downloads, browsing habits and participation in sensitive political, medical or social discussions.
In April of this year, Andy Yen,CEO of Proton, warned that online age verification risks reshaping the internet in a bad way and “kill privacy”.
