NOTICE TO MEMBERS Petition No 1428/2024 by Daniel Tudor (Romanian) on introducing mandatory identity verification for all social media users in the EU

European Parliament 2024-2029 Committee on Petitions 19.5.2025 NOTICE TO MEMBERS Subject: Petition No 1428/2024 by Daniel Tudor (Romanian) on introducing mandatory identity verification for all social media users in the EU 1. Summary of petition The petitioner advocates for the introduction of a mandatory identity verification for social media users in the European Union, in order to fight disinformation, electoral manipulation, and organized trolling, which in his opinion are undermining democratic processes, erode trust in institutions, and promote extremist ideologies. In support of his request, he provides the example of the Romanian electoral campaign for the presidential elections of 2024, when a significant number of fake accounts had been identified and removed from a certain social media platform after allegedly contributing to a high extent to active disinformation campaigns. He also refers to recent reports showing that in various Member States, social media platforms are actively used to target candidates or to push hidden political agendas. The petitioner requests therefore legislation to introduce an identity verification for social media users via KYC Procedures, which require that every active account on social media platforms is linked to a verified identity through official documents (ID card, passport, or a registration certificate accompanied by the representative's personal identification, in case of legal entities). The proposed system would...