Today, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hosted the first meeting of the Special Panel on child safety online. The panel, announced in the 2025 State of the Union address, “will provide expert recommendations to better protect and empower children online and will explore the need for potential harmonised age restrictions to access social media”. President Ursula von der Leyen said: “For decades, we have made the real world safer for children and we must do the same in the digital world. The positive opportunities that technology offers cannot come at the cost of their safety, health or happiness”. In Europe, she added, “tech platforms already have a responsibility to ensure the safety of users and we will continue to ensure they do so. But we must also do more to protect and empower our young people online. That is why I have convened this panel: to forge a strong, realistic, European approach to keep our children safe in the digital age”. Panel meetings will include youth delegates along with specialists from different industries, such as health, ITC, children’s rights and digital literacy. The first meeting looked into the risks and benefits associated with children using social media or other online activities, such as games, messaging apps or Artificial Intelligence.