The European Union is set to propose a sweeping new social media, chatbot, and gaming ban for kids under 15.
Reuters reports that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Henna Virkkunen, EVP of the European Commission for Technological Sovereignty, Security, and Democracy, will present the proposal Sept. 17, as part of their EU Kids Act.
According to a commission document seen by Reuters, the commission is proposing that the E.U.’s approach “should allow minors to benefit from the huge potential of digital services, while protecting them from abuse and exploitation.”
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“[The Kids Act] needs to limit the access of tech companies to our children, and not the other way around,” the document said.
The proposal sets out a system of staggered access to social media platforms, video-sharing platforms, LLM chatbots, and online games. This system grants more access as kids get older.
- Kids under 3 would have no access to any services
- Kids 3-12 can have accounts, but only if those accounts are (1) on child-friendly services, (2) are fully controlled by parents, and (3) have stringent safety standards, like limited user-to-user contact and time limits
- Kids 13-14 can ask parents to open special introductory accounts on social media and video-sharing platforms, also with limited user-to-user contact and time limits
Once a child hit 15, they would be able to set up their own account with socmed platforms, chatbots, and gaming services. The only limits they’d face then are the usual ones restricting NSFW content from being accessed by minors.
Reuters reports the Kids Act asks affected companies to pay a “supervisory fee” that would fund regulators’ enforcement efforts and post-implementation supervision, to ensure the Act is being followed. The proposal apparently also requires companies to axe things like addictive feeds, and will require age verification to open new accounts and download video games.
To be clear, the terms laid out here are just a draft. Over the next few months, the commission will go through more drafts with individual EU member countries and the European Parliament, until everyone agrees on final terms.
As you likely know, this proposal is just the latest in a global crackdown over child safety. Countries like Australia have already limited kids’ access to social media (or at least attempted to), destinations like Roblox and Discord have implemented age verification practices, virtually every platform has added more parental controls, and lawmakers regularly question platforms about potential negative effects–not just on kids, but on users of all ages.
Digital rights advocates have expressed concerns about how increasingly rigorous regulations might be weaponized to target marginalized populations and adult creators and consumers of NSFW content. Unfortunately, digital platforms can be prime hunting grounds for predators, and in some cases fail to enforce their own TOS to protect young users. If parents and platforms apparently can’t handle controlling kids’ internet access, what else is there for regulators to do?
