§4 GENERAL PRINCIPLES

17. The present guidelines are based on the following general principles, which are interrelated and should be considered holistically in all the activities by providers of online platforms that are in scope of these guidelines. The Commission considers that any measure that a provider of an online platform accessible to minors puts in place to comply with Article 28(1) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 should adhere to the following general principles. (a) Proportionality and appropriateness: Article 28(1) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 requires any measure taken to comply with that provision to be appropriate and proportionate to ensure a high level of privacy, safety, and security of minors. Since different online platforms may pose different types of risks for minors, it will not always be proportionate or appropriate for all providers of online platforms to apply all, or only some of the measures described in these guidelines. Determining whether a particular measure is proportionate and appropriate, in particular where it entails an interference with individuals’ fundamental rights, will require a case-by-case review by each provider (i) of the risks to minors’ privacy, safety and security stemming from its online platform or parts of it, considering among others the size, reach and type of the service it provides and its nature, its intended or current use, its specific features and the user base of the service, (ii) of the impact of the measure on children’s rights and other rights and freedoms enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’); and of (iii) the need to base such measures on the highest available standards and existing good practices, as well as the perspective and rights of children (see Section 5 on Risk review). (b) Protection of children’s rights: These rights are enshrined in the Charter, which guarantees the protection of children’s rights in implementing Union law, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (‘the UNCRC’), which all Member States have ratified (18). Children’s rights form an integral part of human rights, and all those rights are interrelated, interdependent and indivisible. In line with Article 24 of the Charter, in all actions relating to children, whether taken by public authorities or private institutions, the best interests of the child must be a primary consideration. Therefore, to ensure that measures to achieve a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors on an online platform are appropriate and proportionate, all children’s rights should be considered and their best interests taken as a primary consideration. Any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited, in line with Article 21 of the Charter. Children’s rights include for instance their right to protection (19), non-discrimination, inclusion, privacy, access to information and education, freedom of expression as well as participation (20) and to have their views taken into account in all matters that concern them (21). (c) Privacy-, safety- and security-by-design: providers of online platforms accessible to minors should integrate high standards of privacy, safety and security in the design, development and operation of their services (22). By-design concepts aim to harness the influence of providers of online platforms, designers and policymakers to shape product and service development in ways that prioritise values that promote human well-being. They refer to embedding privacy, safety and security protections by default into the design, operation and management of organisations, as well as in products and services from the start (23). (d) Age-appropriate design: providers of online platforms accessible to minors should design their services to align with the developmental, cognitive and emotional needs of minors, while ensuring their safety, privacy, and security. Age-appropriate designs are suitable for children considering their rights and well-being as well as their diversity and specific age or stage of development and take account of the evolving capacities of children (24).

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07