The European Commission approved an age verification app. A step forward. But not enough.

Fondazione Telefono Azzurro has signed the international statement led by Five Rights Foundation, alongside 140 child rights organizations and experts across Europe. The message is clear: restricting children’s access doesn’t protect them. It excludes them.

Broad age bans risk pushing children to bypass guardrails, reducing platforms’ incentive to invest in safety, and cutting off the most vulnerable from spaces where they often find connection and support.

The real question isn’t “how do we keep children off social media”. It’s “how do we make those spaces safe for them”.

Safety-by-design. Strong enforcement. Mandatory minimum standards for all platforms. Real accountability.

For almost 40 years, we have worked every day toward this, in schools, with families, at institutional tables across Italy and beyond. And we will keep doing so.