BRUSSELS: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday proposed banning children under 13 from social media and requiring online services to provide safer, age-appropriate accounts for minors as part of a plan to protect children from online harm.
Under the proposed EU Kids Act, children aged 13 to 15 would only be able to use social media through accounts supervised by parents or guardians. They would face limits on available features and the amount of time they could spend on the services.
Every day our children are engaging with some of the most sophisticated technology ever created.
Technology that was not created with their wellbeing in mind.
We need to set clear boundaries in the digital world.
This is what our KIDS Act will do ↓ https://t.co/OfR5rYdwvT
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) September 17, 2026
Children would be able to open accounts independently from the age of 15, while platforms would have to ensure that their services and algorithms are age-appropriate for users aged 15 to 18.
The proposal must still be negotiated with the EU’s 27 member states and the European Parliament before it can become law.
Restrictions on social media platforms
The proposed rules would apply to social media and video-sharing platforms, online video games, AI companions and chatbots used by people under 18.
Platforms would be required to prevent features designed to encourage excessive or compulsive use. These would include infinite scrolling, profiling-based recommender feeds, reward mechanisms and push notifications during sleeping hours.
Services would also have to prevent unsolicited contact from strangers and provide tools that allow children and parents to block or mute users.
AI companions and chatbots would have to be switched off by default for children.
Companies would also have to design their algorithms with children’s safety in mind and provide easy-to-use parental controls.
Platforms would be required to verify users’ ages through age-assurance systems when accounts are opened. Companies that fail to comply could face fines of up to 6% of their global annual turnover, as well as supervisory fees to help fund regulatory oversight.
‘Clear boundaries’
Von der Leyen said the proposed legislation would establish safeguards for children in the digital world similar to those applied in everyday life.
“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,” she told a press conference.
She said the EU Kids Act would “set clear boundaries in the digital world just as we do it on a daily basis in the real world”.
Von der Leyen also rejected the idea that the influence of major technology companies could not be challenged.
“We do not have to accept addictive features. We do not have to accept children being drawn into ever more extreme content,” she said.
She also cited concerns over girls’ images being used to create AI-generated sexualised material.
The proposal is likely to face opposition from technology companies and could also create tensions with the United States, whose President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised European technology regulation.
Tech industry lobbying group CCIA Europe, whose members include Google and Meta, warned that the proposed age-verification requirements could create privacy and cybersecurity risks.
“Collecting age information, identity credentials, and data linking children with parents or guardians at this scale would undoubtedly create an attractive target for cybercriminals,” CCIA Europe chief Daniel Friedlaender said.
Growing global restrictions
The European proposal follows similar efforts in Australia, Britain, China, India, Turkiye and several EU countries to restrict children’s access to social media.
Australia has introduced a world-first ban preventing children under 16 from using social media, but enforcement has proved challenging. That experience could offer an indication of the practical difficulties the EU may face in enforcing its own restrictions.
Major platforms including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok already prohibit children under 13 from opening accounts under their own rules.
European authorities have nevertheless accused platforms of failing to adequately prevent younger children from accessing their services.
The European Commission’s proposal seeks to go further by making age assurance and child-safety measures a legal obligation across a broader range of online services.
