Evidence Library
Comprehensive data charts, academic papers, and statistical analysis on the impact of social media on children and adolescents.
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Actions Taken by Online Services When Underage Accounts are Detected (2024)
Data represents the frequency of specific enforcement actions identified across 50 online service instances. A service may be counted in only one category. This chart shows the enforcement actions that 50 online services state they will take when they detect an account belonging to someone underage in 2024, broken down by service category. While "suspending the account" (either alone or combined with deleting data) is the industry standard for high-risk sectors, the specific approach varies significantly depending on the nature of the platform. A significant trend emerges in sectors characterised by real-time interaction. Random live video chat (75%) and social media (50%) utilise the comprehensive 'suspend account + delete data' approach the most. In contrast, sectors such as dating (60%), pornography (50%) and messaging (50%) tend to suspend accounts without explicitly stating that data will be deleted as part of the primary enforcement action. The data also highlight a profound 'transparency gap' and a lack of protective thresholds in certain sectors. Most notably, 67% of gaming services provide no information regarding their enforcement actions; a lack of transparency is also seen in 40% of services designed specifically 'for kids'. Furthermore, 40% of "For kids" services and 17% of "Gaming" services state that they have no minimum age, rendering detection-based enforcement unnecessary. Finally, a distinct 'data-centric' model is evident in app stores (67%) and generative AI (50%), where platforms prioritise deleting minor's data over suspending the account itself.
Age assurance methods employed by platforms
This chart breaks down the technical methods employed by the 353 platforms that attempt to verify age. The data reveal that 88% of these services rely on 'self-declaration'. Advanced, privacy-preserving technologies such as age verification (11%) and age estimation (5%) remain rare.
Age Verification Methods Used by Online Services (2024)
This chart shows the technical methods used by 50 online services to verify users' ages in 2024. The data represent the percentage usage of each method within each service category. The data reveal that government-issued ID is the most widely adopted method, appearing in 80% of categories and serving as the sole verification tool for services in the 'For Kids' and 'Messaging' sectors. A significant trend emerges in high-engagement and high-risk categories, where multiple methods are often combined. In the social media sector, half of the platforms (50%) rely on ID verification, while the remainder is split between credit card checks (20%), ID + selfie checks (20%), and mobile phone checks (10%). In contrast, the pornography sector shows a heavy reliance on biometric and human-assisted methods, with 60% of platforms requiring ID and a selfie, and 20% utilising live chat with staff. The data also highlight sector-specific preferences for non-ID methods. App stores rely entirely on mobile phone verification, a method that also dominates the gaming sector. Generative AI services exhibit a unique profile, with 50% of platforms utilising credit card verification, the highest rate for this method across all categories. Although traditional ID remains the regulatory backbone, sectors involving immersive or sensitive content are increasingly adopting biometrically linked 'ID + selfie' protocols to ensure higher assurance levels.
Circumstances in Which Online Services Use Age Verification (2024)
Data represents the frequency of age verification (AV) triggers across 50 online service instances. Services often apply AV in multiple scenarios. This chart illustrates the triggers or circumstances under which age verification (AV) mechanisms are deployed, with data representing the percentage of instances within each specific digital service category. The data reveal that utilising AV "to access certain features" is the most widespread strategy, appearing in 70% of the categories and accounting for 50% of the triggers in the Social Media, Pornography, and Generative AI sectors. A significant trend emerges regarding the influence of regional regulations; verifying users "in certain geographic locations" is the dominant trigger for Gaming and App Stores (67%), and represents half of the triggers for Immersive environments and Generative AI (50%). Furthermore, the data highlight a heavily reactive enforcement landscape in specific sectors: Random live video chat relies exclusively on AV "on appeal" (100%), a method that also accounts for 40% of the triggers used by Social Media platforms following account suspensions. The data also underscore the rarity of proactive safety measures. Verification "at registration" is the primary method for only two categories: it is the exclusive trigger for "For kids" services (100%), but represents only 14% of the triggers in the Dating sector. Similarly, triggering AV due to "suspicious activity" remains a marginal practice, appearing only in Pornography (17%) and Dating (14%).
Civic & Political Participation: Youth vs. General Population (2025)
The 2025 Eurostat data reveal that the internet has become a vital infrastructure for youth democratic engagement, with 24.33% of EU youth using digital platforms for civic or political participation, outpacing the general population by 4 percentage points. This gap is widest in Slovenia, where nearly half (49.4%) of all young people utilise the internet for political expression (only 33% of the general population do it). Youth high participation rates are found also in Latvia (33%) and Netherlands (36%).
Daily Active Social Media Use: 15-Year-Olds (2022)
This chart shows the distribution of time spent on active social media activities, such as messaging, posting content, or sharing media, by 15-year-olds on a typical weekday. The data reveal that active participation remains a dominant behaviour for the vast majority of youth, with 84% of adolescents reporting daily active usage.
Daily Active Social Media Use: 15-Year-Olds by Gender (2022)
This chart shows the distribution of time spent on active social media activities, such as messaging and posting content, by 15-year-olds on a typical weekday, by gender. Active digital participation is a near-universal behaviour for both genders, with 87% of males and 82% of females engaging in active social media use daily. Notably, a higher percentage of females (18%) report no active usage compared to their male counterparts (13%).
Daily Internet Access of General Population and Youth (16 to 29 Years Old) (2025)
Daily internet connectivity has become a universal constant for European youth, with the 16–29 age group maintaining near-total saturation (97.67% EU average). While total population access varies significantly, the youth demographic remains consistently above 91% across all 37 measured territories. This creates a dramatic generational "Access Gap" in countries like Croatia (+16pp), Bulgaria (+15pp), and Poland (+14pp), where young people are disproportionately more connected than the general public.
Daily Passive Social Media Use: 15-Year-Olds (2022)
This chart shows the distribution of time spent on passive social media activities, such as scrolling through feeds or browsing content, by 15-year-olds on a typical weekday. The data reveal that passive engagement is a near-universal habit for this demographic, with only 6% of adolescents reporting no usage at all. The majority of students fall into the moderate-to-heavy usage categories, with 39% spending between one and three hours daily on these platforms. 37% of 15-year-olds spend more than three hours per day engaged in passive scrolling. 94% of 15-year-olds are daily participants in passive digital consumption.
Daily Passive Social Media Use: 15-Year-Olds by Gender (2022)
This chart shows the distribution of time spent on passive social media activities, such as scrolling or browsing, by 15-year-olds on a typical weekday, divided by gender. The data reveal that passive consumption is a near-universal behaviour for both genders. Only a small minority of both genders report no passive usage at all. A significant trend emerges in the "high intensity" category: 42% of males spend more than three hours per day passively consuming content, compared to 32% of females.