By Alexandra Voudouri
The European Commission is proposing a single EU-wide age limit for children’s access to social media, along with strict rules governing how digital platforms, online games, and artificial intelligence applications interact with minors, under a new legislative proposal known as the EU KIDS Act.
"This is not about when minors gain access to social media, but when and how we allow social media to gain access to our minors.” -von der Leyen
Under the proposal, children under 13 would not be allowed to access social media, while personal accounts could be created from the age of 15.
Between the ages of 13 and 15, parents or guardians would be able to create special “mini accounts” with limited features and contacts. Use would also be capped at one hour a day.
This is the phased approach announced a day earlier by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union address. It sets the European model apart from a blanket ban applying to everyone below a certain age.
The most significant change, however, concerns the responsibility placed on the companies themselves.
The Commission is effectively reversing the burden of proof: platforms would have to demonstrate that their services are safe for minors by design before children can use them.
Very large platforms would be required to submit compliance plans that have first been assessed by independent auditors.
Von der Leyen summed up the approach by saying, "This is not about when minors gain access to social media, but when and how we allow social media to gain access to our minors.”
The requirement for safety by design would mean restrictions on features that encourage addictive or compulsive use. These include endless scrolling, excessive notifications, and recommendation systems that can lead children towards increasingly harmful content.
Minors’ accounts would also come with stricter default privacy settings and stronger protection against unwanted contact.
The rules would extend beyond traditional social media to include video-sharing platforms, certain online games, and AI-powered digital “companions.”
During the presentation of the legislative proposal, European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen said AI applications would not be allowed to behave like “human friends” in ways that could make children emotionally dependent on them.
Such applications would have to undergo risk assessments before being released and would continue to be monitored afterwards. Conversational AI systems built into children’s toys or applications would not be activated automatically and would have to be easy to switch off.
A crucial issue is how users’ ages will be verified without compromising their personal data.
The European age-verification system has been designed so that a platform receives only confirmation that a user is above the required age limit. It would not receive the person’s name, date of birth, exact age, or other personal information.
The proposal is also intended to close gaps that, according to the Commission, are not adequately covered by the Digital Services Act, or DSA.
Responding to a question on the issue, Virkkunen said guidelines already issued to platforms were being implemented “very, very slowly.”
The KIDS Act would turn specific safety-by-design requirements into binding rules, complementing both the DSA and the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act.
The decision to adopt a phased system instead of a blanket ban also has a legal basis.
Asked about a recent ruling by France’s Constitutional Council concerning national restrictions on social media, von der Leyen said the Commission had taken two factors into account: the need for a clear safety-by-design obligation and the importance of avoiding an abrupt jump from a complete ban to unrestricted access.
The special arrangement for children aged 13 to 15 is intended to address precisely this legal challenge.
Greece is already among the EU countries moving towards stricter age restrictions.
In the proposal’s explanatory memorandum, the Commission notes that Greece, France, Italy, Austria, Poland, and Belgium notified Brussels in 2025 and 2026 of plans for national legislation restricting minors’ access to certain digital services.
Those national proposals vary considerably, with age limits ranging from 13 to 16. Brussels cites these differences as a reason for introducing common rules and avoiding fragmentation across the European market.
The KIDS Act remains a legislative proposal and must now be agreed upon by the European Parliament and EU member states.
The Commission has proposed that the main provisions of the regulation begin applying six months after it enters into force, although some obligations would be subject to a longer transition period.
