EU Pledges Youth Social Media Ban & Swedish MEP Files Police Complaint Against Fellow MEP Over Hate Speech | The Free Flow 7/16/26
The EU Commission President promised a draft law to ban social media for children, a Swedish MEP filed a police complaint against a Danish MEP over hate speech, and more.
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This Week at a Glance 🔎
— 🇯🇵 Japan Mandates AI Labels for Social Media Content
— 🇪🇺 EU Pledges to Ban Social Media for Children
— 🇺🇸 Massachusetts Senate Passes Youth Social Media Bill
— 🤖 EU Preliminary Report Finds Meta Violated DSA
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Court Bans Investigative Report Ahead of Publication
First of All 🇺🇸
» Faculty Sue Texas Tech Over Requiring Approval to Teach Race and Gender
Faculty unions have sued Texas Tech University System leaders over two memos from Chancellor Brandon Creighton that dictate curriculum disclosures and restrictions.
Details:
📑 The first memo requires professors to disclose whether course materials address race, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
🛑 The second memo requires professors to stop teaching these subjects until they receive approval from the Board of Regents.
The new rules apply to five institutions within the Texas Tech System.
The American Association of University Professors and the Texas AAUP-AFT sued the chancellor and members of the Board of Regents.
The lawsuit claims the policies are unconstitutional, citing subject matter that will be removed from curricula under the new rules.
The Digital Age 🤖
» Japan Mandates AI-Labels for Social Media Content
🇯🇵 Japan has enacted new legislation that will require certain AI-generated or altered images and videos on social media to be clearly labeled.
Details:
The legislation will take effect on March 1, 2027.
It applies to AI-generated or modified content that could reasonably be mistaken for being authentic, with exemptions for illustrations and animated material.
Platforms must take measures to curb the harmful effects of misinformation on elections.
📃 The internal affairs and communications minister will set guidelines for the expected measures, and companies will publish annual reports detailing their efforts.
The law does not include criminal penalties.
» Massachusetts Senate Passes Youth Social Media Bill
📲 The Massachusetts Senate has passed a bill that would disable certain social media features for minors.
The Bill:
The bill amends House Bill 5366, which sought to ban under-14s from social media platforms and require parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds.
Under the new bill, social media platforms would have to set default settings for minors to limit “addictive” features and increase safety.
⚙️ Defaults include: disabling algorithmic feeds, autoplay, and infinite scroll, notifications from midnight to 6 a.m., and sharing precise geolocation data.
⚙️ It also requires platforms to notify users after one hour of daily use, with follow-up alerts every 30 minutes.
🚸 Minors cannot change these settings, but adults can. Minors can change settings that limit posts and direct messaging to their social media “friends.”
Age assurance methods must allow users to remain anonymous or not rely solely on a government-issued ID.
The amendment to change age-verification requirements from opt-out to opt-in failed.
The House must pass the amended bill for it to head to the Governor.
The Brussels Effect: Europe and Beyond 🇪🇺
» EU to Implement Social Media Ban for Children
📵 European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has promised a draft law this fall that would ban social media for EU children.
Details:
Her pledge followed an expert panel’s call to restrict social media and other platforms that have similar features, such as video games and AI chatbots, for under-13s.
Von der Leyen declined to specify a minimum age for the draft bill.
» EU Preliminary Report Says Meta Breaches Digital Services Act
🇪🇺 An EU preliminary report found that Instagram and Facebook’s “addictive design” has violated the Digital Services Act.
Details:
The EU Commission said Meta failed to weigh the risks of design features that harm users’ physical well-being.
📲 The features include infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and personalized recommendation systems.
The Commission also accused Meta of ignoring data on how much time young people spend on its platforms at night and how different types of content lead to excessive use.
Since the investigation began, Meta introduced Teen Accounts that allow parents to block access to platforms at night and cap daily screen time at 15 minutes.
If the Commission’s findings are confirmed, Meta faces a fine of up to 6% of its total annual turnover.
» EU Commission Responds to Claims that Meta is Censoring Activists
🇪🇺 The European Commission has responded that it is “aware of the issue” and “in touch with relevant stakeholders” after an MEP asked what it will do about allegations that Meta censors progressive advocates.
Details:
MEP Alexandra Geese filed a parliamentary question asking whether the Commission will launch formal proceedings to assess Meta’s compliance with the Digital Services Act (DSA).
🏳️🌈 Geese’s question stems from allegations that Meta is “censoring women, progressives, and LGBTQ accounts.”
Geese accused the platform of failing to meet DSA obligations to provide clear and specific reasons, effective and accessible internal complaint procedures, and risk assessments.
The Commission’s response noted that very large online platforms must assess systemic risks, including hindering freedom of expression and information.
It added that it cannot share details of its investigation, but that proceedings were opened in 2024 against Meta on suspicion that its platform’s recommendation systems penalized political content.
» Germany Advances Bill Criminalizing ‘Denying Israel’s Right to Exist’
🇩🇪 Germany’s upper house of parliament has advanced a bill that would criminalize publicly denying Israel’s right to exist or calling for its destruction.
Details:
To trigger penalties, statements must encourage “a willingness to commit acts of antisemitic violence or arbitrary acts.”
Violators face up to five years in prison or a fine.
🏛️ The bill now heads to the lower house of the national parliament.
» Swedish MEP Files Police Complaint Against Fellow MEP Over Hate Speech
🇸🇪 A Swedish MEP has filed a police complaint against a Danish MEP, accusing him of racist hate speech after she was targeted on social media.
Context:
💬 Danish MEP Kristoffer Storm responded online to a clip of Al-Sahlani addressing parliament, saying she “should go home.”
Al-Sahlani filed a police complaint against Storm for using racist and hateful speech against her.
💬 Her complaint did not include a Finnish MEP, who responded to the clips with “cry more,” because police were unsure of how to handle the post.
The Finnish MEP said he planned to file a complaint over accusations that he threatened or made racist comments.
The Parliament’s services said they are looking into the incident, and Parliament President Roberta Metsola said her office would “take appropriate action” to prevent a repeat.
Free Speech Recession 🌍
» Ukraine Court Bans Investigative Report Ahead of Publication
🇺🇦 A Kyiv court issued a temporary injunction blocking the publication of a joint investigation by an independent Ukrainian outlet and NGO.
Details:
The report, by Slidstvo.Info and the Anti-Corruption Action Center (CPK), concerned the business dealings of the brother of the head of the country’s State Investigation Bureau (DBR).
CPK sent questions to the siblings, after which Parkovyi-2 LLC, a company linked to the brother who was the subject of the report, requested an injunction.
🏛️ The court found that publication could cause irreparable harm and disclose trade secrets.
⚖️ It did not weigh the public interest of the reporting, as national law requires.
Slidstvo.Info maintains that the report was based on publicly available documents.
» Israel Wants to Enforce ‘Institutional Neutrality’ on Universities
🇮🇱 Israeli proposals seek to impose “institutional neutrality” on the country’s universities by barring them from taking political stances, organizing strikes, or halting teaching as a protest.
Details:
🎓 University presidents would also be barred from voicing views that might be perceived as political or could prompt them to do so.
Lecturers and students are exempt from the rules if their political activity is private, “not specific to the institution or done by virtue of their academic or administrative role, and does not harm the institution’s regular activity.”
» Report Reveals 1,500+ Rulings Under Russia’s Law Against ‘Discrediting’ the Army
🇷🇺 A report from the Regional Centre for Human Rights shows Russian occupation courts have issued at least 1,529 rulings under a 2022 law against “discrediting” the Armed Forces.
Details:
🔎 Law enforcement agencies monitoring social media comments, likes, and posts–some from years earlier—opened 80% of the cases.
The report also detailed procedural violations, noting that proceedings in some cases lasted less than a minute.
🇺🇦 One woman faced administrative charges for selling yellow and blue pillowcases at a market, the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
» Russian SpongeBob Viewers Suspect Rainbow Removed Under LGBTQ+ Propaganda Law
🇷🇺 Russian viewers suspect that the removal of a rainbow in an episode of the animated series, SpongeBob SquarePants, is due to the country’s ban on LGBTQ+ propaganda.
Details:
🌈 In the original episode, a rainbow appears over SpongeBob’s head as he discusses the fun of using one’s imagination–a scene that has become a viral meme.
Now, the episode shows only a blurred yellow arc.
Viewers suspect the change was made to comply with Russia’s ban on “any action or the spreading of any information that is considered an attempt to promote homosexuality.”
» Turkish Comedian Sentenced Over Ottoman Joke
🇹🇷 An Istanbul court issued a suspended five-month sentence to comedian Tuba Ulu after her sexually explicit joke about Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent circulated online.
Details:
Ulu was charged under Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code, which criminalizes public denigration of a group based on race, class, gender, religion, sect, or region.
The law calls for six months to a year in prison, but prosecutors sought three years for “insulting historical, national, and moral values.”
Ulu will not go to prison unless she commits another offense within the supervision period.
Ashley Haek is a communications coordinator and research assistant at The Future of Free Speech.
Audrey Campbell is a communications intern at The Future of Free Speech and an international relations major at American University.
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