The Trump administration has described European digital rules as censorship and a threat to American companies. Now, US authorities have forced Meta to impose more measures than the EU does on how teenagers use social media, highlighting a gap between the bloc’s rules and their enforcement.
A daily two-hour usage limit, a shutdown of certain features between midnight and 6am, and no push notifications during school hours. Hidden like and reaction counts, plus prompts to leave the app. Those are some of the measures Meta has agreed to introduce as part of its settlement with US authorities.
From across the ocean, the case has triggered a debate in Europe and turned the usual US-EU debate over tech regulation on its head. Are the EU rules — once called censorship by the Trump administration, and leading to tariff threats and visa restrictions — now falling behind?
Same but different
According to Eva Simon, Head of the Tech and Rights Program at the Civil Liberties Union for Europe, the situation is more complicated. “The US settlement imposes strict requirements to change how children access Meta services,” she said. “However, the addictive design is untouched.”
By contrast, she believes the EU has stronger systemic platform obligations and safety-by-design requirements.
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“Access limits could be a useful safeguard. Still, they cannot substitute for the broader measures needed to address the toxic online environment,” she said. To her, the EU should continue focusing on the architecture of social media itself: “I believe the EU is on the right track by addressing the addictive design.”
Having rules is one thing. Making them work is another.
Former European Commissioner and one of the architects of EU social media rules Thierry Breton has been quick to argue that “US courts are going faster than the EU Commission” and pointing out that nine of the settlement’s 12 measures are already covered by the Digital Services Act (DSA). The gap, Breton suggests, is enforcement.
At least as safe as in the US
The European Commission’s finding, according to which Meta is not complying with the DSA, dates back to late 2025. The bloc’s executive concluded that the company had failed to assess and mitigate the risks posed by features including infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications and highly personalised recommendations. Several of the same features targeted by the US settlement.
But Brussels says it is not sitting idly by. Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said the Commission had been in contact with Meta since the US deal was announced and was working to ensure “at least equally good protection for our kids here in the European Union”.
The approaches remain structurally different. Instead of imposing hour limits or a nighttime curfew, the DSA focuses on the risks created by platforms and their design. “The ball is in Meta’s court now,” Regnier said, adding that the Commission expects the company to offer commitments including “proper screen time management” and stronger parental controls.
The rules could spread beyond Meta
For now, the changes in the US apply only to Meta, unlike EU rules that cover all so-called very large online platforms (VLOPs). Meta, however, is calling on TikTok and YouTube to adopt the same restrictions, arguing that teenagers will simply move to other platforms.
There is also a competitive dimension: stricter rules could put Meta at a disadvantage if its rivals remain subject to looser restrictions. But it’s not only them who want the same rules for everyone.
“We should also push for all social media platforms to create child-friendly designs,” Simon argues.
In Europe, stricter rules could also follow. In recent months, the European Parliament has called for a minimum age of 16 for social media, video-sharing platforms and AI companions, while allowing 13- to 16-year-olds access with parental consent.
But Parliament’s resolution is not binding. Any measure would have to come from the Commission, with President Ursula von der Leyen expected to announce more details after the summer.
