European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed a bill to ban children under 13 from accessing social media as part of a broader European Union plan to strengthen online safety for minors.
Under the proposed EU Kids Act, online platforms would also be required to provide safer accounts for children and introduce measures to limit exposure to potentially harmful online content and features.
The proposal follows similar moves in Australia, Britain, China, India, Turkey and several EU countries amid concerns over the impact of social media, video-sharing platforms and artificial intelligence tools on children’s safety and wellbeing.
Von der Leyen said; “children were increasingly exposed to sophisticated digital technologies that were not necessarily designed with their wellbeing and development in mind.”
“Today, our children are engaging with some of the most sophisticated technology ever created, and it was not created with children’s well-being and development in mind,” Leyen told a news conference.
She said the EU Kids Act would establish clearer boundaries for children in the digital environment, similar to safeguards applied in everyday life.
Parental Control
Under the proposal, which still requires negotiations with the EU member states and the European Parliament before it can become law, children aged 13 to 15 would be allowed to use social media under parental control.
The measures would also apply to social media and video-sharing services, online video games, AI companions and chatbots used by people under 18.
Platforms would be required to restrict addictive features, profiling-based recommendation systems, infinite scrolling, reward mechanisms and unsolicited contact from strangers. AI companions and chatbots would also have to be switched off by default for children.
The proposed rules would require online services to develop child-safe algorithms and provide accessible parental controls, including tools for blocking and muting users.
Platforms would also have to verify users’ ages through age-assurance systems when accounts are created.
Companies that fail to comply could face fines of up to six per cent of their global annual turnover, while also paying supervisory fees to support regulatory oversight.
However, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) Europe, whose members include Google and Meta, raised concerns about privacy and potential conflicts with existing EU regulations.
CCIA Europe head Daniel Friedlaender said large-scale collection of age information, identity documents and data linking children to parents or guardians could create security risks.
He also argued that the proposed legislation could create overlapping legal requirements, which he said could undermine efforts to protect children and consumers.
Reuters
