European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has introduced the Kids Act, a legislative initiative aimed at regulating children's digital safety. The proposal seeks to ban social media access for children under 13 and mandates that AI chatbots and companions be disabled by default for minors.
Under the proposed law, users aged 13 to 15 would require parental consent for accounts. Platforms, including video services and online games, would be prohibited from using addictive features such as infinite scrolling, profiling-based recommendation feeds, and reward mechanisms. They must also implement robust parental controls and restrict contact with strangers.
Companies are required to verify the age of users during account creation. Failure to comply with these regulations could result in fines of up to 6% of a company's total annual global turnover. Additionally, firms will be required to pay a supervisory fee to fund regulatory oversight activities.
The CCIA Europe industry group has raised concerns regarding the initiative, arguing that the mandatory collection of identity documents and age-related data creates significant privacy risks. The group warns that this data could become a target for cybercriminals and that the new rules may overlap with existing legislation.
