BRUSSELS, July 14 (Reuters) - France, Spain, Italy,

Denmark and Greece will test a blueprint for an age verification

app to protect children online, the European Commission said on

Monday, amid growing global concern about the impact of social

media on children's mental health.

The setup for the age verification app is built on the same

technical specifications as the European Digital Identity Wallet

which will be rolled out next year. The five countries can

customise the model according to their requirements, integrate

into a national app or keep it separately.

The EU executive also published guidelines for online

platforms to take measures to protect minors as part of their

compliance with the bloc's Digital Services Act (DSA).

The landmark legislation, which became applicable last year,

requires Alphabet's Google, Meta Platforms ( META ),

ByteDance's TikTok and other online companies to do more to

tackle illegal and harmful online content.

Elon Musk's X, TikTok, Meta's Facebook and Instagram and

several adult content websites are currently being investigated

by EU regulators on whether they comply with the DSA.

EU regulators said the new guidelines would help online

platforms to tackle addictive design, cyberbullying, harmful

content and unwanted contact from strangers.

"Platforms have no excuse to be continuing practices that

put children at risk," EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen said in a

statement.

The effect of social media on children's mental health has

become a growing global concern, with dozens of U.S. states

suing Meta, while Australia last year banned social media for

children under 16.