BRUSSELS (Waagacusub.net) — The European Union is moving toward one of the world's toughest child-safety regimes for social media, with the European Commission proposing to prohibit children under 13 from holding social media accounts and impose strict safeguards on teenagers.

Under the proposed EU KIDS Act, children aged 13 and 14 would only be permitted to use restricted, parent-supervised accounts, while independent social media accounts would generally be allowed from the age of 15.

The proposal would place significant new responsibilities on major platforms including TikTok, Meta's Facebook and Instagram, YouTube and other online services operating across the European Union.

Among the proposed protections are restrictions on addictive design features, personalized advertising to children, unsolicited contacts, infinite scrolling and certain push notifications during sleeping hours.

AI companions and chatbots would also face specific restrictions when dealing with minors, while children's accounts would be required to operate under stronger privacy and safety settings.

EU Preparing New Age-Verification System

A central element of the plan is a European age-verification system designed to establish whether a user meets an age threshold without requiring social media companies to receive the person's full identity.

The European Commission has developed a free, open-source age-verification application that is currently being piloted in seven countries and is expected to become available across the EU by the end of 2026.

The technology is intended to allow users to prove that they meet a required age threshold while minimizing the personal information disclosed to online platforms.

The system could also be used to verify that users are over 18 before accessing adult content covered by obligations under the EU's Digital Services Act.

Responsibility Shifts Toward Tech Companies

The initiative represents a broader shift in European digital regulation toward requiring technology companies to demonstrate that products used by children have been designed safely.

Very large online platforms reaching more than 45 million monthly users in the European Union would face additional compliance obligations under the proposed framework.

The Commission's initiative comes amid growing concern across Europe over children's exposure to addictive recommendation systems, harmful material, unwanted contact and AI-generated sexual content.

However, the KIDS Act is not yet EU law. The proposal must pass through the European Parliament and EU member states and could be amended during negotiations before taking effect.

If adopted substantially in its current form, the legislation would establish a common European framework governing children's access to social media rather than leaving individual member states to develop different national rules.

By Dahir Alasow

Waagacusub.net
Brussels, European Union