European regulators are proposing sweeping new rules that could significantly change how children use social media, video platforms, online games and AI chatbots. The European Commission’s proposed EU KIDS Act would introduce age-based restrictions, limits on how long younger teenagers can use certain services and stronger requirements for companies to protect minors online.
Under the proposal, children under 13 would be prevented from opening social media accounts, while 13- and 14-year-olds would use supervised accounts with a maximum daily allowance of one hour. The measures would apply across the European Union, although individual member states could adopt stricter protections.
The proposed legislation has not yet been approved. Families and technology companies therefore do not have to make changes under these proposed limits at present. The legislation must pass through the EU’s legislative process before any requirements become enforceable.
Proposed age limits would give parents greater control
The EU KIDS Act would establish different rules based on a child’s age. Children younger than 13 would not be permitted to create social media accounts, while teenagers aged 13 and 14 would have restricted accounts that parents or guardians would help establish and supervise.
The accounts for younger teenagers would have fewer functions than standard accounts and would be subject to a one-hour daily usage limit. The approach is intended to give parents greater control over children’s online activity while limiting how much time young teenagers can spend on services designed around continuous engagement.
Once teenagers reach 15, they would be able to create their own accounts without parental supervision under the proposed framework. However, turning 15 would not mean that all child safety measures disappear. Platforms would still be expected to provide protections appropriate for users under 18.
The proposed restrictions would cover more than popular social media networks. Services such as TikTok and Instagram would be affected, while YouTube, online games and AI chatbot services would also have to meet additional child safety requirements. The Commission’s approach reflects growing concern that children can encounter potentially harmful content or engagement mechanisms across a much wider range of online services.
Individual EU countries would also retain the ability to introduce stronger protections for children. This means the final rules could differ between member states if national governments decide that additional safeguards are necessary.
Platforms would face stricter safety and design requirements
The proposal would also place new responsibilities on technology companies to change how their products work for younger users. Platforms would be expected to remove or restrict design features that could encourage addictive patterns of use among minors.
The largest online services would face additional obligations, including preparing detailed child safety plans before introducing certain products or features. Rather than relying solely on regulators to identify potential problems after they occur, the European Commission wants companies to demonstrate that their services are designed with children’s safety in mind.
“Now they have to prove to us that they are safe,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in her September 17 statement.
Age verification would form another important part of the proposed system. Platforms would use EU-certified technology, including the bloc’s Age Verification App, to determine whether users meet the relevant age requirements.
The technology is designed to reduce the amount of personal information shared during an age check. Its zero-knowledge proof system can confirm that a person meets an age threshold without revealing their identity to the platform. Such an approach could help address some privacy concerns associated with online age verification.
However, age verification remains controversial. Critics have questioned whether requiring users to prove their age could create new privacy risks or introduce systems that are difficult for platforms and users to operate. There are also concerns about whether young people could find ways around the checks, particularly when services are available across multiple devices and platforms.
Approval and enforcement remain key challenges
The EU KIDS Act is still at the proposal stage and must be approved by the European Parliament and EU member states before it can become law. The details could change during negotiations, and no date has been announced for the proposed restrictions to take effect.
Enforcement could prove particularly difficult. Age-based restrictions depend on platforms accurately identifying a user’s age while preventing children from bypassing the systems. Experience from other countries suggests that legislation alone may not completely prevent younger users from accessing restricted services.
Australia provides one example of the challenge. The country introduced an under-16 social media ban, but younger users have continued to find ways to access online platforms despite the restrictions. The experience highlights the difficulty of enforcing age limits when children can use different accounts, devices, and methods to bypass verification systems.
The EU would face a similar challenge if the proposed measures become law. Regulators would need to balance effective enforcement with privacy protections, particularly if age verification becomes a standard requirement for accessing major online services.
The proposal also represents a broader shift in how governments approach children’s digital safety. Instead of focusing only on individual pieces of harmful content, the EU is seeking to regulate the design of online services, the way platforms engage younger users and the safeguards that companies must put in place before children use their products.
For now, however, the proposed one-hour limit and under-13 account restrictions are not enforceable EU rules. Further negotiations will determine whether the measures are adopted and what their final requirements will be.
