Cyprus is backing a major initiative to protect minors online. President Nikos Christodoulides has co-signed a letter to the President of the European Commission alongside the leaders of France, Greece, Spain, Slovenia and Denmark, calling for a single “digital age of majority” across the EU governing minors’ access to social media.
The letter sets out a shared intention to establish uniform European principles on the minimum age for minors’ access to social platforms in order to better protect children online. In a written statement, President Christodoulides called the effort “a step toward harmonised rules that keep our children safer on the internet.”
Why it matters
Christodoulides stressed the need for coordinated action at national and EU level to address contemporary risks to children in the digital sphere, cyberbullying, exposure to harmful content, addictive algorithms, and misuse of technology. “Protecting children’s mental health and well-being is not optional, it is a duty,” he said, adding that Europe has a responsibility to ensure a safe, trustworthy and human-centred digital environment.
The initiative aligns with the Commission’s guidelines on protecting minors and the pilot phase of the EU age-verification tool, in which Cyprus is a participant. The President described this as a step toward a secure, transparent and user-friendly digital identification system that safeguards children’s privacy and safety.
Cyprus’ role ahead
Christodoulides said Cyprus will continue to support European efforts for ethical accountability online. As the country prepares for its 2026 Presidency of the Council of the EU, he pledged to make children’s safe digital transition a horizontal policy priority.
Cyprus aims to help build a Europe “that puts people, and above all children, at the centre, marrying innovation with safety and technological progress with social responsibility.” As the President concluded: “Nothing is more important than the well-being, safety and mental health of our children.”