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Decision

Impact of social media and the online environment on young people

Effect
Adopted
Result
395 for · 136 against · 80 abstained roll call
Date
17 September 2026, 13:21–13:23
Kind
Resolution
More facts (9)
Margin
by a large majority
Text
Report A-10-2026-0220
Dossier
2025/2081(INI)
Source
Committee report by Sandro Ruotolo
Topics
Digital, AI & data Assigned by a model, not checked by hand.
Votes
13 votes · 6 roll calls
Requested by
Renew (1 roll call) · Members (B) (3 split votes) · Members (A) (1 roll call, 1 split vote)
Sitting
Thursday 17 September 2026
Final vote
196147
More
Cite this page Roll-call results (EP) (opens the official site)
Link to this page
Votes on this decision
Members on the final vote

Result

The final vote and what it means for this kind of decision.

Final vote: 395 for, 136 against, 80 abstained (roll call).

Adopted by a large majority.

Parliament adopted the text as its official position.

Before the final vote, MEPs decided on 12 parts of the text voted on separately (8 adopted, 4 rejected).

Backed by The Left, Greens, S&D, Renew and EPP; opposed by ECR and ESN; Patriots mostly abstained.

Groups

Members' votes, each counted in the group they belonged to on the day. No vote: in office that day, no position recorded. Majority line: the most common position. Clear line: a position with at least two thirds of the group's votes (at least 10 members voting), otherwise Divided. Cohesion: Agreement Index, 0 = evenly split, 1 = all voted the same (method).
GroupForAgainstAbst.No voteMajority lineClear lineCohesionBar
The LeftFor 24Against 8Abst. 4No vote 8 of 44Majority line ForClear line For Cohesion 0.50
GreensFor 45Against 0Abst. 4No vote 4 of 53Majority line ForClear line For Cohesion 0.88
S&DFor 115Against 0Abst. 0No vote 20 of 135Majority line ForClear line For Cohesion 1.00
RenewFor 61Against 6Abst. 0No vote 11 of 78Majority line ForClear line For Cohesion 0.87
EPPFor 143Against 3Abst. 8No vote 30 of 184Majority line ForClear line For Cohesion 0.89
ECRFor 3Against 60Abst. 10No vote 11 of 84Majority line AgainstClear line Against Cohesion 0.73
PatriotsFor 0Against 24Abst. 45No vote 15 of 84Majority line AbstainedClear line Divided Cohesion 0.48
ESNFor 1Against 23Abst. 1No vote 2 of 27Majority line AgainstClear line Against Cohesion 0.88
No groupFor 3Against 12Abst. 8No vote 5 of 28Majority line —Clear line No line Cohesion —

Voted against their group, 48

Members who voted otherwise than a clear line (at least two thirds of the votes cast, at least 10 members voting) of the group they sat in that day. A group without a clear line is divided and not counted.

Countries

The final vote by national delegation.

Votes by country (27 delegations)
Members' votes by country. No vote: in office that day, no position recorded. Cohesion: Agreement Index of the delegation, 0 = evenly split, 1 = all the same; it reflects the mix of groups (method).
CountryForAgainstAbst.No voteCohesion
Austria146000.55
Belgium133240.58
Bulgaria95030.46
Cyprus2103—
Czechia61860.30
Germany60194120.58
Denmark101220.65
Estonia3301—
Spain453840.71
Finland101040.86
France291329100.11
Greece551100.18
Croatia91020.85
Hungary71750.20
Ireland7007—
Italy3926290.37
Lithuania91100.73
Luxembourg5100—
Latvia5121—
Malta2022—
Netherlands205330.57
Poland2723030.31
Portugal153210.63
Romania1561110.52
Sweden173010.78
Slovenia4131—
Slovakia83310.36

Members

Each member’s recorded position on the final roll call, in the group they sat in that day. Filter by country, group, position or name.

Show all 611 members

Debate speakers and how they voted

Members who spoke in the plenary debate on the dossier. Speeches: how many times they took the floor. Final vote: their recorded position on this decision's final roll call.
MemberGroupSpeechesSpokeFinal vote
Sophie WILMÈS BelgiumRenewSpeeches117 Sept 2026 (verbatim report, official site) No vote recorded
Sandro RUOTOLO ItalyS&DSpeeches117 Sept 2026 (verbatim report, official site) For

All votes on this decision, 13

In voting order. Result: for–against–abstained (a show of hands has no count). Requested by: the groups that asked for a roll call, a split vote or a separate vote.
No.VoteRecordedResultRequested by
1Separate vote on paragraph 1 Show of hands Rejected
2Vote on text inserted after paragraph 1 Show of hands Rejected
3Paragraph 63 — part 1 of 2 Part voted on: “Welcomes the favourable consideration expressed by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen regarding the introduction of a harmonised, EU-wide minimum age limit for access to social media (a minimum digital age);”Show of hands AdoptedRequested bysplit: Members (A)
Show the other 12 votesShow the other 10 votes
Votes on this decision, continued
No.VoteRecordedResultRequested by
2Vote on text inserted after paragraph 1 Show of hands Rejected
3Paragraph 63 — part 1 of 2 Part voted on: “Welcomes the favourable consideration expressed by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen regarding the introduction of a harmonised, EU-wide minimum age limit for access to social media (a minimum digital age);”Show of hands AdoptedRequested bysplit: Members (A)
Votes on this decision, continued
No.VoteRecordedResultRequested by
4Paragraph 63 — part 2 of 2 Part voted on: “takes note of the initiatives already undertaken by certain Member States, in this regard;”Show of hands AdoptedRequested bysplit: Members (A)
5Paragraph 63 — part 3 A10-0220/2026 – Sandro Ruotolo – § 63/3 Part voted on: ‘stresses the need for a harmonised EU approach to establishing a minimum digital age and, in this context, welcomes the conclusions of the Commission’s special panel of experts on child safety online, which provides guidance on this matter; welcomes, furthermore, the announcement made by President von der Leyen about a legislative proposal on the matter;’Roll call401 for, 181 against, 29 abstained AdoptedRequested bysplit: Members (A)
6Separate vote on paragraph 69 Show of hands Rejected
7Paragraph 78 — part 1 of 2 Part voted on: “Text as a whole without the words: ‘including by gender and age, as well as, where appropriate, by racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, sex characteristics and disability,’”Show of hands AdoptedRequested bysplit: Members (B)
8Paragraph 78 — part 2 of 2 Part voted on: “those words”Counted159 for, 433 against, 17 abstained RejectedRequested bysplit: Members (B)
9Paragraph 85 — part 1 A10-0220/2026 – Sandro Ruotolo – § 85/1 Part voted on: “Text as a whole without the words: ‘and rights’”Roll call449 for, 100 against, 62 abstained AdoptedRequested byroll call: Renew; split: Members (B)
10Paragraph 85 — part 2 A10-0220/2026 – Sandro Ruotolo – § 85/2 Part voted on: “those words”Roll call403 for, 146 against, 50 abstained AdoptedRequested byroll call: Renew; split: Members (B)
11Recital AD — part 1 A10-0220/2026 – Sandro Ruotolo – Recital AD/1 Part voted on: “Text as a whole without the words: ‘, including age-appropriate sexual education,’”Roll call575 for, 13 against, 19 abstained AdoptedRequested bysplit: Members (B)
12Recital AD — part 2 A10-0220/2026 – Sandro Ruotolo – Recital AD/2 Part voted on: “those words”Roll call413 for, 143 against, 50 abstained AdoptedRequested bysplit: Members (B)
13Final vote — text as a whole A10-0220/2026 – Sandro Ruotolo – Motion for a resolution (as a whole) Roll call395 for, 136 against, 80 abstained Adopted

Roll calls requested by Renew, Members (A) · split votes by Members (B) (3), Members (A).

Text

The text voted on.

Report A-10-2026-0220

AI: What this vote decides Written by AI from the official text — check the source

Parliament adopted a resolution on the impact of social media and the online environment on young people, setting out its position on how digital platforms affect children and young adults.

The text calls for a comprehensive European strategy that combines safety by design, algorithmic transparency, privacy-respecting age assurance, digital education and stronger enforcement across existing EU rules.

It asks the Commission to assess how well current initiatives work and to keep EU action in step with the changing digital environment.

Read the text · Report a problem

AI: The text in short Written by AI from the official text — check the source

Parliament's resolution on the impact of social media and the online environment on young people sets out an integrated European strategy combining safety and privacy by design, algorithmic transparency and privacy-first age verification.

Read the text · Report a problem

Dossier

Where the dossier stands and its other decisions in plenary.

2025/2081(INI) · Own-initiative report

Parliament adopted the text on 17 September 2026. This is its final position on the matter.

Show the 5 steps of the dossier
  1. Referred to committee · 8 May 2025 (done)
  2. Committee work · Report adopted 14 July 2026 (done)
  3. Tabled for plenary · 28 August 2026 (done)
  4. Plenary vote · Adopted 17 September 2026 (done)
  5. Parliament’s position · Final (done)

Lead committee: CULT · Author: Sandro RUOTOLO (S&D)

Connections

What this decision touches: the procedural chain, the same text, running issues, votes that split the chamber the same way.

Show 11 connections: Running issue: Online safety of minors · Other decisions of the part-session on CULT dossiers · Final votes that split the chamber the same way

Running issue: Online safety of minors

Other decisions of the part-session on CULT dossiers

See all: Other decisions of the part-session on CULT dossiers

Final votes that split the chamber the same way

Sources & citation

Where the facts on this page come from, and how to cite it.

Permalink
https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/decisions/2026-09-17/5
Official sources
Data source
Licensed CC BY 4.0.
Retrieved
25 September 2026

Cite as

European Parliament (2026). “Impact of social media and the online environment on young people”. Decision, 17 September 2026. votingId 196147, document A-10-2026-0220, reference 2025/2081(INI). EU Parl Watch Research. https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/decisions/2026-09-17/5 (retrieved 25 September 2026). Official sources: Roll-call votes, sitting of 17 September 2026 (European Parliament), https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PV-10-2026-09-17-RCV_EN.html; Results of votes, sitting of 17 September 2026 (European Parliament), https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PV-10-2026-09-17-VOT_EN.html. Data: EP Open Data API: decisions of the sitting MTG-PL-2026-09-17, https://data.europarl.europa.eu/api/v2/meetings/MTG-PL-2026-09-17/decisions?format=application%2Fld%2Bjson (CC BY 4.0).
BibTeX 
@misc{epw-decision-2026-09-17-5,
  author = {{European Parliament}},
  title = {{Impact of social media and the online environment on young people}},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-09-17},
  howpublished = {\url{https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/decisions/2026-09-17/5}},
  url = {https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/decisions/2026-09-17/5},
  urldate = {2026-09-25},
  publisher = {EU Parl Watch Research},
  note = {Decision. votingId 196147, document A-10-2026-0220, reference 2025/2081(INI). Official source: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PV-10-2026-09-17-RCV\_EN.html, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PV-10-2026-09-17-VOT\_EN.html. Data: EP Open Data API: decisions of the sitting MTG-PL-2026-09-17 (CC BY 4.0)}
}