Europe wants to put children’s social media use on a timer, with a complete account ban for the youngest users. The European Commission’s proposed EU KIDS Act would block under-13s from social media and give 13- and 14-year-olds no more than an hour a day on supervised accounts.
The plan reaches beyond TikTok and Instagram. YouTube, AI chatbots, and online games would also face new child safety requirements. Companies that fail to comply could be fined up to 6% of their global annual sales.
The legislation still needs approval, so families won’t have to change anything just yet.
How would the age restrictions work
Parents or guardians would set up and oversee restricted mini accounts for 13- and 14-year-olds. These accounts would have fewer features and a maximum daily allowance of one hour. Children under 13 wouldn’t be allowed to open social media accounts at all.
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At 15, teenagers could create their own accounts without parental supervision. Platforms would still have to provide age-appropriate protections for everyone under 18, so reaching the minimum age wouldn’t automatically unlock the full adult experience.
The rules would apply across the EU, although individual countries could introduce stronger protections.
What would platforms have to change
Platforms would have to remove addictive design features for minors, while the biggest services would need to submit detailed child safety plans in advance. The Commission wants companies to demonstrate that their products are safe rather than waiting for regulators to establish harm.
“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 checks would use EU-certified tools, including the bloc’s Age Verification App. Its zero-knowledge proof system is designed to confirm whether someone meets an age requirement without disclosing their identity to the platform.
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That offers a privacy safeguard, although critics remain concerned about requiring people to verify their ages online.
Can Europe enforce these restrictions
The EU KIDS Act still needs approval from the European Parliament and EU member states. Negotiations could change the details, and there’s no announced date for the restrictions to take effect.
Enforcement is another hurdle. Australia introduced an under-16 social media ban last year, but younger users have continued accessing platforms despite the restrictions.
The EU would face its own challenge in making age checks effective without creating new privacy problems.
Until the legislation is approved, the proposed limits aren’t rules that families or platforms have to follow.