The EU wants to protect children online. What about everyone else?

Published 1w ago · Updated 5d ago

Covered in 2 countries

AI summary53s readMixed

The proposed EU Kids Act seeks to overhaul online safety for minors by restricting addictive features and establishing digital age limits.

The European Commission has proposed the EU Kids Act, establishing a digital majority age and banning social media for children under thirteen while allowing restricted mini accounts for older teens. While advocates praise the move to curb addictive designs like infinite scrolling and push notifications, critics warn that rigid age-verification measures could exclude vulnerable groups such as migrants and disabled users. The unified rulebook also targets video games, app stores, and artificial intelligence chatbots to ensure digital environments are safe by design.

The legislation sets a digital majority age of fifteen and prohibits social media access for children under thirteen.
Mini accounts permitted for adolescents aged thirteen to fifteen will restrict infinite scrolling, push notifications, and unknown contacts.
Video games, app stores, and artificial intelligence chatbots are required to adopt safety-by-design standards.
Critics caution that strict age verification protocols risk deepening digital exclusion for undocumented individuals, migrants, and disabled users.

By the numbers

15 yrsdigital majority age

13 yrsban threshold for social media

Timeline

Sep 21The European Commission prepared to announce new regulatory measures establishing a digital majority age.
Sep 22Details emerged regarding social media bans for young children and restricted mini accounts for older teens.
Sep 23The European Commission officially proposed the single EU-wide rulebook targeting addictive apps and AI chatbots.
Sep 24Critics highlighted potential risks that age-based protections could deepen exclusion for disabled users and migrants.

Why it matters

As children spend increasingly more time on digital platforms, governments are grappling with how to curb online harms and addictive product designs without infringing on privacy or accessibility.

What outlets agree on

The European Commission is advancing the EU Kids Act to regulate children's online experiences and protect minors from addictive platform designs across member states.

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In this story

EU Kids ActEuropean CommissionChildrenSocial mediaArtificial intelligenceInstagramTikTokData privacyChildren's Rights Alliance

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