TECH NEWS | EU moves to restrict social media access for children
The proposal would apply not only to social media but also to video-sharing platforms, online games, AI chatbots and companions, app stores and operating systems.
The European Commission has proposed an EU-wide minimum age of 15 for children to create autonomous social media accounts, as part of a new law aimed at strengthening online protections for minors.
The proposed EU KIDS Act, adopted by the Commission on Sept. 17, would prohibit social media access for children below 13 and require parental supervision for users aged 13 to 14.
The proposal would apply not only to social media but also to video-sharing platforms, online games, AI chatbots and companions, app stores and operating systems.
Under the proposed age-based system, children aged 3 to under 13 would not be allowed to create social media accounts. They could access specially designed child-friendly video-sharing services through accounts managed by parents or guardians.
Users aged 13 to under 15 could access social media and video-sharing services through so-called mini accounts established and supervised by parents or guardians. These accounts would have limited features, social contacts and screen time, with the Commission proposing a maximum of one hour a day.
At 15, minors would be allowed to create their own autonomous social media accounts.
The proposal also introduces a stronger “safety by design” requirement, shifting more responsibility to digital service providers.
“Today, our children are engaging with the most sophisticated technologies ever created,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “Our KIDS Act is reversing the burden of proof — it is for platforms to show they are safe by design.”
The Commission said the legislation is intended to address risks including cyberbullying, harmful content and addictive design.
For very large online platforms, the proposed compliance system would require providers to demonstrate that their services meet the new requirements before coming into contact with children. Independent auditors would verify their compliance plans.
The proposed rules would also impose requirements on AI companions and chatbots. Providers would have to demonstrate compliance with the new obligations and establish mechanisms for monitoring emerging risks and incidents before putting such systems on the market.
Violations could result in fines of up to 6 percent of a company’s total worldwide annual turnover, according to the Commission.
The proposal is also linked to the EU’s developing age-assurance framework. The Commission is seeking a common approach that can allow users to prove they meet an age threshold without necessarily disclosing their identity or exact age to individual online services.
The KIDS Act would complement the EU’s existing Digital Services Act, which already imposes obligations on online platforms concerning the protection of minors and systemic risks associated with very large online platforms.
The new proposal is not yet law. It will have to go through the EU legislative process involving the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union before it can take effect.
The Commission said the legislation is intended to harmonize rules across the 27-member bloc, following growing differences among EU member states over children’s access to social media.
The proposal represents a broader shift in European digital regulation toward requiring platforms to anticipate and mitigate risks to children through the design of their services, rather than relying primarily on content moderation after problems arise.
Full disclosure: All news articles published on the TechSabado website are written by human journalists, unless otherwise specified. Final text editing is also performed by human editors, with artificial intelligence (AI) used only to assist with additional grammar and style guide corrections..
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