Call for Papers: Age-appropriate Design of Online Platforms - Questions for EU Law and Children's Rights (VU Amsterdam, 19 February 2027)

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is hosting a one-day academic workshop on 19 February 2027 titled 'Age-appropriate design of online platforms: questions for EU law and children's rights'. It is convened by Sarah Eskens, Assistant Professor in Law and Technology at VU Amsterdam, and Simone van der Hof, Full Professor of Law and Digital Technology at Leiden University, and is funded by the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research.

The workshop responds to the rapid movement across Europe on social media age restrictions. France has adopted statutory social media age limits and similar efforts are under way in other European countries, while political pressure has grown on the EU to act. The European Commission set up a panel of experts to advise on child safety online, and after the co-chairs presented their final report in July 2026 Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed support for phased and gradual access for different age ranges.

The convenors argue that social media age limits are only one possible answer to a complex and broad problem. They give two reasons. First, the problem is broader than social media, because online games and AI chatbots present similar risks including exposure to harmful content, manipulation, grooming, and problematic or addicted use. Second, age limits presume there is a single right age at which to start using a service, whereas a children's rights perspective calls for age-appropriate design of online services that respects children's evolving capacities.

The call notes that the expert panel's final report acknowledges these issues, speaking of 'social media+' rather than social media alone and calling for age-appropriate regulation of such services, which suggests the policy debate may be moving beyond simple age limits.

The call sets out the questions it wants papers to engage with:

• What is the role of EU platform regulation and data protection law in ensuring age-appropriate design of social media, online games and AI chatbots?
• How do the different solutions for securing age-appropriate design relate to children's human rights? For example, if a country imposes a statutory age limit of 16 years for social media, is the resulting interference with children's right to freedom of expression justified in light of its aim?
• To what extent does the EU have competence to legislate EU-wide design or access requirements for online services used by minors?
• How do social media age limits and other national-level solutions sit with the fully harmonised regime of the Digital Services Act?
• Which services should be addressed in protecting children online, and how should the targeted services be defined?

The goal is to bring together scholars working from either a children's rights or an EU law perspective and to explore how children's rights should inform the implementation of existing EU law on platform regulation, data protection and media regulation, as well as possible new legal solutions including social media age limits.

The call is open to scholars working on the protection of minors online, from the perspective of either children's rights or EU law. The convenors specifically welcome work in progress so that authors can benefit from the range of views the workshop aims to bring together, and they encourage early career scholars, including doctoral candidates, to submit an abstract.

The call states no nationality, citizenship or institutional restriction, so scholars based in India and elsewhere outside Europe may submit. Applicants should be aware that the subject matter is EU-specific: the questions are framed around EU platform regulation, EU data protection and media law, the Digital Services Act, and EU competence, so a submission from outside the EU would need to engage with that legal framework, for instance comparatively.

Submit an abstract of a maximum of 750 words by email to s.j.eskens@vu.nl, using the subject line 'Workshop age-appropriate design of online platforms'. The submission must also include a short biography of up to 150 words.

The deadline for abstracts is 16 October 2026. The convenors aim to conclude the selection process by mid-November 2026. Applicants who need funding in order to take part should say so in the same email when submitting the abstract.

Accepted contributors will each give a presentation of approximately 15 to 20 minutes, followed by discussion. This is a discussion-oriented workshop rather than a conference, and participants are asked to attend for the full day so that everyone can engage with each other's work. The workshop runs from 09:00 to 17:00 and the working language is English.

Attending the workshop is free of charge. The workshop is funded by the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research, and a limited amount of financial support is available to cover accommodation and travel for participants with limited institutional resources. Anyone who requires that funding in order to attend should indicate it when emailing their abstract.

The workshop takes place in person at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam, on Friday 19 February 2027. The call does not mention an online or hybrid option.