EU Passes FocusRight Digital Attention Protection Act: Algorithmic Content Banned for Minors
The EU passed the FocusRight act, prohibiting social media platforms from serving algorithmically recommended content to users under 18, with penalties reaching up to 6% of global revenue. It is now the world's strictest digital protection law for minors.
The European Union formally passed the FocusRight Digital Attention Protection Act on April 30, setting a new global benchmark for shielding minors online.
The law's core provisions include: a ban on social media platforms serving algorithmically curated content to users under 18 (platforms may only display content from accounts the user has actively followed, in chronological order); a prohibition on embedding commercial advertising in children's content; and a requirement that platforms default to daily screen-time limits of no more than two hours for underage users.
Violations carry fines of up to 6% of a company's global revenue — for a company like Meta, that could mean penalties exceeding $7 billion.
FocusRight takes effect on March 1, 2031. TikTok and YouTube have both signaled their intent to comply, though both companies have raised questions about the technical feasibility of enforcing an algorithmic recommendation ban at scale.
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