The European Union is set to propose the EU Kids Act, a sweeping plan to restrict children under 15 from accessing social media, AI chatbots, and online games. Driven by global concerns over child safety on platforms like Meta and TikTok, the draft legislation introduces strict age-based access tiers and parental controls. Non-compliant companies face potential fines of up to 6% of annual sales and must pay supervisory fees. The proposal requires months of legislative debate before becoming law.
EU Kids Act proposal
- ▪The European Commission is planning to propose the "EU Kids Act" to restrict children under 15 from accessing social media, video sharing platforms, AI chatbots, and online games
- ▪Under the proposed EU Kids Act, online services that fail to prevent children from accessing their platforms could face fines of up to 6% of their annual global sales
- ▪European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen are scheduled to present the EU Kids Act proposal on September 17, 2026
Social media age restrictions
- ▪Under the EU Kids Act proposal, children aged 3 to 12 would have accounts fully controlled by parents for child-friendly services, while children under 3 would have no access
- ▪Under the EU Kids Act proposal, children aged 13 and 14 could access introductory social media accounts with parental control, limited contacts, and strict time limits
- ▪The proposed EU Kids Act would allow children aged 15 and older to set up their own social media accounts without parental restrictions
Child online safety concerns
- ▪The European Commission's draft document states that the European Union's approach aims to protect minors from abuse and exploitation while limiting tech companies' access to children
- ▪The EU Kids Act proposal is driven by mounting global concerns regarding the impact of platforms like Meta's Facebook, TikTok, Google's YouTube, and ChatGPT on children's health and safety
Parental control requirements
- ▪The proposed EU Kids Act would require social media and video-sharing platforms to verify users' ages during account creation, and online games to verify ages before downloads
- ▪The proposed EU Kids Act would require companies to avoid addictive designs, prevent harmful feeds, and provide tools for children to report harmful content
Company supervisory fees
- ▪The draft EU Kids Act proposal requires tech companies to pay a supervisory fee to fund the enforcement and supervision of the regulations by regulators
- ▪Tech companies currently take precautions regarding child safety, with many setting a minimum age requirement of at least 13 years to sign up for social media platforms
Legislative approval timeline
- ▪The European Commission must negotiate and finalize the draft EU Kids Act with EU member countries and the European Parliament before it can become law
- ▪The legislative process to debate and pass the proposed EU Kids Act is expected to require many months of debate before becoming law
Debatable claims
- ▪Social media platforms should be legally required to verify users' ages
- ▪The EU should ban children under 15 from accessing social media
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