Von der Leyen: ‘My heart bleeds’ over social media health effects

The European Commission’s newly reelected president has her eye on tackling social media addiction and cyberbullying affecting young people — as concerns around the mental health effects of apps like TikTok and Instagram grow.

“My heart bleeds when I read about young people harming themselves or even taking their lives because of online abuse,” Ursula von der Leyen told members of the European Parliament in a speech in Strasbourg, just before a vote that saw her elected for a second term.

The German center-right EU leader wants to launch a bloc-wide inquiry into the effects of social media on the well-being of young people. She pledged to “tackle the plague of cyberbullying” and “take action against addictive designs of some platforms,” arguing social media and “excessive screen time” have played their part in a wider “mental health crisis.”

Von der Leyen’s pleas come as politicians across Europe and the United States are reckoning with the impact of smartphones, social media and online games on kids’ brains. Countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, France and others are introducing new rules to limit children’s access to digital devices.

In political guidelines released ahead of her speech, von der Leyen promised a “first-ever European-wide inquiry” on the effect of social media on young people — but stopped short of proposing specific legislative action.

Von der Leyen — a mother of seven, a former family affairs and youth minister in Germany and a doctor by training — “feels very strongly” about the issue on a personal level, said a person close to her who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.

The European Commission under her leadership already has pushed through the most far-reaching social media law in the Western world, the Digital Services Act (DSA), which forces online platforms to better moderate content. Large social media firms have also been asked to propose concrete plans to limit risks for minors like cyberbullying or access to inappropriate content like violence or porn.

The EU executive started this year enforcing the DSA, opening investigations into TikTok as well as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram over alleged addictive algorithms, which may have an impact on teenagers’ mental health. TikTok in late April suspended a reward feature to keep people engaged in its app after the Commission threatened to block it under the DSA. 

Companies can face fines of up to 6 percent of their global annual revenue for serious wrongdoings under the DSA.

But von der Leyen has also faced growing pressure from EU governments and lawmakers to show the rulebook and its enforcers are sufficiently tough and fast to protect children online. Critics have said the EU executive needs to propose new rules to further crack down on addictive designs like autoplay and infinite scrolls tricking people, including children, into staying on platforms longer.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the DSA had so far proved to be “not sufficient” to stand up against platforms, while French President Emmanuel Macron also floated the idea of EU-wide rules on screen time for minors and a digital majority at age 15.