Social media platforms would be barred from accessing children under 13 in the EU under new legislation adopted by the European Commission.
The proposed EU KIDS Act would set an EU-wide minimum age of 15 for minors to open their own social media account, with a separate regime for younger teenagers, the Commission announced on Thursday.
It would also shift the “burden of proof” on to service providers, requiring them to show their services are “age-appropriate and safe by design.”
Children aged 13 to under 15 would only be able to use social media through “mini accounts” set up via a parent or guardian’s account under the proposal.
These accounts would have safeguards including limits on social contacts and screen time capped at one hour a day.
Children aged 3 to under 13 would not be allowed on social media but could use child-focused video-sharing services through an account managed by a parent or guardian, under the plan.
Platforms would also need to provide a tool allowing adults to restrict a device to child-friendly services when it is handed to a child and to limit use to a maximum of one hour a day.
Limits on “addictive features” and tighter checks on age
The proposal would introduce “safety-by-design” duties for online services used by under-18s, including social media, video-sharing platforms, online video games, AI companions and chatbots, the Commission said.
Measures include banning “addictive features” and profiling-based recommendation feeds, and prohibiting infinite scroll without stopping points, reward “tricks”, and push notifications during sleeping hours.
The Commission said the rules would also ban unsolicited contact from strangers and require accounts for minors to be private by default, with geolocation, camera and microphone access turned off.
Services would have to offer tools for minors to block and mute users and time-management tools, and allow minors to control, tune and reset recommendation systems.
AI companions and chatbots would have to be turned off by default for minors and could not simulate interpersonal relationships in ways that create emotional dependency.
The proposal would require online services and app stores to use “age assurance” tools — systems designed to check or estimate a user’s age — and cited an EU age verification app that does not retain identity documents or biometric data.
Social media and video-sharing platforms would be required to verify age when a user opens a new account, while providers would have to estimate the age of existing users using “reasonable proxies” such as an account creation date or credit card details.
Very large online platforms would be required to submit a compliance plan to the Commission and an independent auditor, with the Commission able to request corrective measures if it finds shortcomings, it said. Investigations in cases of non-compliance would be concluded within 90 days under expedited procedures.
The legislation has been sent to the European Parliament and the Council for examination and adoption.
