Minors online, from protection to autonomy: safeguards and skills in 2026

European policy for minors online moves along two complementary lines: protection, with obligations for platforms and safeguarding tools, and autonomy, with the development of digital skills and artificial intelligence literacy. This contribution reconstructs both lines on the basis of the official documents of 2025 and 2026.

The protection framework

The Digital Services Act (DSA) requires platforms accessible to minors to maintain high standards of privacy, safety and security. On 14 July 2025 the European Commission published the guidelines on the protection of minors provided for by Article 28(1), which set out adequate and proportionate measures for service providers. In the same month the Commission released a technical blueprint for age verification, later launched in a pilot phase with Member States, platforms and users, designed to prevent access to content reserved for adults without disclosing other personal data.

Reporting and support

On 10 February 2026, on Safer Internet Day, the European Commission adopted the action plan against cyberbullying, which provides for an online safety app to be rolled out across all Member States, allowing users to report incidents, store evidence and receive assistance. The plan rests on three pillars: a coordinated European approach, prevention and awareness, and reporting and support. It works alongside the network of Safer Internet Centres and the Better Internet for Kids (BIK+) strategy, which offers resources for minors, parents and educators. These tools form the reactive side of protection.

The Artificial Intelligence Act and minors

The Artificial Intelligence Act completes the protection framework. Its rules prohibit systems that manipulate or deceive people, including children, in harmful ways, and establish labelling obligations for content generated or manipulated with artificial intelligence, such as deepfakes, applicable from 2 August 2026. The Audiovisual Media Services Directive also protects minors on video-sharing platforms and is under review to strengthen online protection. Together, these instruments define the perimeter within which platforms and content providers operate and connect the protection of minors to the general rules on digital technologies.

From literacy to autonomy

The autonomy side concerns skills. In June 2026 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published, with the contribution of the European Commission, Empowering Learners for the Age of AI, which sets out a common framework for artificial intelligence literacy in primary and secondary education. The framework describes AI literacy as a set of knowledge, skills and attitudes that enable young people to understand how systems work, critically evaluate their outputs and use them ethically and responsibly. Its stated aim is to support informed decisions about the opportunities and risks that artificial intelligence presents, inside and outside the classroom. AI literacy thus appears as the complement to protective measures, oriented towards enabling minors to act autonomously.

Schools, families and empowerment

The two lines meet in the role of schools and families. The European survey on the online safety of minors of 16 June 2026 highlighted the empowerment of caregivers as a key theme, and the European Commission’s special panel presented its final recommendations on 13 July 2026. The approach that emerges from the documents tends to shift the emphasis from restriction alone to informed use, combining protective measures with the development of the skills needed to navigate a digital environment in which artificial intelligence is increasingly present.

Both lines rest on an evidence base. The same survey of 16 June 2026 documented that young people spend on average four and a half hours online on school days and that nine adolescents out of ten report at least one negative symptom linked to screen time. These results motivate both protective measures and investment in skills: protection reduces exposure to risks, while literacy enables minors to recognise and manage them. The OECD document places artificial intelligence literacy in this second area, complementary to the first.

Outlook

The known timetable provides for the follow-up to the panel recommendations presented on 13 July 2026, the continuation of the pilot phase of the European age verification blueprint and the adoption, by education systems, of the framework for artificial intelligence literacy. What remains to be defined is the balance between protection and autonomy, the ways in which schools will integrate the new skills and the extent to which protection and support tools will actually reach minors and families.

In dialogue with the 2030 Agenda

Goal 4 (Quality Education). Artificial intelligence literacy at school is the foundation of the autonomy side.
Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions). Platform obligations and reporting mechanisms define the institutional safeguards.
Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-being). The informed use of digital tools affects the well-being of the youngest.
Goal 10 (Reduced Inequalities). Access to skills and protection tools concerns all minors, regardless of background.