Parents, privacy, parliaments: The battle begins for von der Leyen’s social media ban

BRUSSELS — Ursula von der Leyen's bill to keep young Europeans off social media is an ambitious response to the growing outcry over the potential harm of TikTok, Instagram and other online platforms. Making the restrictions a reality will require a whole new level of ambition. The European Commission must now negotiate with national governments and technologists to figure out exactly how to impose a law across Europe that would ban kids under 13 from social media, and severely restrict access for those under 15 — all without trampling on privacy of young and old alike in the process of verifying users’ age.