EU Plans New Rules to Restrict Social Media, Online Games for Children Under 15
The European Union is rolling out new regulations that would limit children’s access to social media, video-sharing sites, AI chatbots and online games, with more stringent measures suggested for younger audiences.
The draft EU KIDS Act, which was seen by AFP, would set a minimum age of 15 for children to open independent accounts on covered digital platforms. The proposal is expected to be formally presented by the European Commission.
The proposed age-based system would allow children aged 13 and 14 to access social media, AI, and gaming platforms via “introductory” accounts with parental participation. These accounts would be less feature-rich and have more stringent screen-time limits.
Children aged 3 to 13 would then have fully parent-controlled accounts on child-friendly services that have greater safety measures, and children under 3 would not be able to access social media and other services deemed unsafe.
The draft also calls for technology companies to make their services “safe by design” for children. Some features like infinite scrolling, artificial notifications and some reward systems may be limited for younger users.
The EU is also looking at recommendation algorithms, with a focus on restricting potentially harmful content that is recommended to children. Children’s accounts would be private by default and unknown users would not be able to contact children.
The proposal comes amid increasing worry in Europe of children being exposed to harmful content and features in online platforms that could be addictive. But the draft is still subject to changes before it is published and will have to go through negotiations between the European Parliament and the EU member states before it becomes law.
