Over the last few months, we’ve seen the European Union ramp up its efforts to tackle the potential harms of the online landscape—whether that’s addressing the threats posed by artificial intelligence or protecting minors from online risks.
On the latter point, gacha and Overwatch gamers might want to batten down the hatches, because it looks like the political bloc could be coming for your loot boxes—at least if you’re a minor.
Today, the EU’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee adopted a report, by popular vote, encouraging the European Commission (EC) to address several online harms faced by minors. The vote passed with 32 in favor, 5 against, and 9 abstentions.
Among its recommendations, the committee proposes setting a minimum age of 13 for kids to access social media with parental permission, and 16 years old without such permission. Additionally, the report calls for a ban on loot boxes, stating that the EC should “ban gambling-like mechanisms such as ‘loot boxes’ in games accessible to minors.”
But that’s not all. The committee also recommends banning websites that endanger minors, restricting “engagement-based recommender algorithms” targeted at minors, and limiting monetization or other material incentives aimed at young influencers.
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) support the idea that persuasive technologies—such as targeted ads, influencer marketing, addictive design, loot boxes, and dark patterns—should be tackled under the upcoming Digital Fairness Act. The report further urges EU action to address manipulative features like infinite scrolling, autoplay, disappearing stories, and harmful gamification practices that deliberately exploit minors’ behavior to boost engagement and spending.
These recommendations extend beyond loot boxes and social media access. The committee also highlights video sharing platforms and AI companions, suggesting they face the same age restrictions—16 and over—as social media in general.
Call me a fuddy-duddy (and feel free to do so for using that phrase), but this all seems reasonable. The EU has been on a roll lately, pushing for stronger intellectual property protections in the face of AI advances and fining big tech companies for privacy and anti-competitive violations. Adding mental health protections for minors to the list is both unsurprising and commendable.
This stance is especially justified given solid research showing the harms that can result from exposing young brains to various digital stimuli at an early age. Human brains weren’t designed to develop under the influence of constant (positive or negative) attention from multitudes of semi-anonymous people on social media.
Currently, countries can set their own age restrictions for social media access, and platforms generally impose their own age requirements alongside rules for age verification. Earlier this year, the European Commission introduced new guidelines on protecting minors under the Digital Services Act—but these are merely guidelines and not legally binding.
These new committee recommendations seem to encourage the Commission to take a more active role in enforcing more definite restrictions.
Regarding loot boxes, I’m just glad I grew up gaming on PC before they became widespread. My spending habits aren’t the best at the best of times, so who knows what they’d be like if I’d been trained to gamble for quick, easy dopamine hits during my brain’s most formative years.
All that said, while I praise the sentiment behind this report, I also offer a note of caution about its application. The committee’s report “supports the Commission’s efforts to develop privacy-preserving age assurance systems,” while warning that such measures must respect children’s rights and privacy—and must not absolve platforms of the responsibility to make their services safe by design.
In summary, the EU is taking significant steps toward creating a safer online environment for minors, and it will be interesting to see how these recommendations translate into concrete policies in the months ahead.
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/eu-meps-agree-on-recommendation-for-europe-to-make-full-use-of-its-powers-to-ban-loot-boxes-for-minors-and-social-media-for-those-under-16/
