The European Commission has formally unveiled the EU KIDS Act, a sweeping proposed regulation that would impose a blanket ban on children under 13 creating social media accounts and force the largest platforms to prove their services are safe by design. The proposal rolled out a day after Commission President Ursula von der Leyen teased the plan during her State of the Union address to the European Parliament on September 16. It follows in the footsteps of Australia and the United Kingdom, which have introduced bans on children under 15 and 16 respectively from establishing social media accounts — making the EU the largest market yet to attempt a tiered age regime for social media. "Today, our children are engaging with the most sophisticated technologies ever created. Technology that was never created with their wellbeing in mind," von der Leyen said in a statement following the adoption of the proposal. "Our KIDS Act is reversing the burden of proof — it is for platforms to show they are safe by design. And we put parents back in the driving seat, giving them the tools to help their children navigate a safer online world." ## Tiered Ages, Banned Design Features Beyond the under-13 ban, the EU proposal would allow children aged 13 and 14 to create limited social media accounts that can be accessed only through a parent or guardian's own account and would be designed to allow only child-friendly video-sharing services. Children 15 and older would be allowed to establish full accounts, as proposed. The KIDS Act requires very large online platforms, as designated under the Digital Services Act, to demonstrate to the Commission that their products are built with safety-by-design principles. It calls for banning addictive design features, profiling-based recommender feeds, infinite scrolling, reward tricks, push notifications during sleeping hours, and the ability for strangers to contact minors unsolicited. Platforms would need to implement privacy-preserving age assurance tools, with one acceptable method being integration with the Commission's open-source EU Age Verification Solution, expected by the end of the year. The requirements apply to any very large platform offering social media, video sharing, online games, or artificial intelligence companions and chatbots to users under 18 — a scope that pulls AI companion apps into children's-safety law for the first time. ## Enforcement With Teeth The enforcement model shifts the burden of proof onto the platforms. All covered platforms must submit compliance plans to the Commission and subject any new product or service to an independent auditor, with the Commission empowered to issue corrective measures based on the auditor's report. Investigations into alleged violations are to be fast-tracked and conclude within 90 days — a far shorter fuse than the DSA's own timetable, and a signal that the Commission intends the KIDS Act to move at the pace of product cycles rather than multiyear antitrust dockets. Penalties can reach 6 percent of global annual revenue, matching the DSA's top-tier fines, and platforms will also pay a fee covering the cost of regulatory supervision. "With our EU KIDS Act, we make sure our children can enjoy their rights online — to learn, stay connected and explore," said Henna Virkkunen, the Commission's executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy. "We also give parents the tools to accompany their kids to navigate a safe digital world. All of this by keeping the pressure high on platforms, because they must prove their services do not harm." ## Privacy Critics Push Back Skepticism surrounds whether the age assurance scheme can work without compromising privacy — a concern shared by advocates and platforms alike. Critics of Australia's youth social media ban say that law has not worked as intended, with the country's eSafety Commissioner finding in August that teenagers are finding relatively easy workarounds to access social media just as they did before the ban. "Children clearly need better protection online, but age verification is not a silver bullet and would raise serious privacy and data protection concerns of its own," said Agustín Reyna, director of the European Consumer Organisation, speaking to The New York Times. Tech lobbying group CCIA Europe flagged the same risk from the industry side. "Collecting age information, identity credentials, and data linking children with parents or guardians at this scale would undoubtedly create an attractive target for cybercriminals," said Daniel Friedlaender, CCIA's senior vice president for Europe, telling Reuters the act creates legal overlap and duplication that ultimately weaken protections for children and consumers. The proposal now enters the EU's legislative process, where the tension at its heart — protecting children versus protecting the data needed to verify their age — will define the debate. For the platforms in its sights, the choice is stark: redesign their products around proof of safety, or gamble their European revenue on the outcome.