What the EU's KIDS Act proposal would change for children on social media and in games

The EU KIDS Act would give the whole European Union one set of age rules for social media: no accounts for children under 13, accounts set up and controlled by a parent or guardian at 13 and 14, and accounts of their own from 15. It would also require the services children use most, from social media and video platforms to online games, AI chatbots and app stores, to be safe by design for anyone under 18. The European Commission adopted the proposal on September 17, 2026, and is taking public feedback until December 3, 2026. It is not yet law: the European Parliament and the Council must first examine and adopt it.

Our KIDS Act is reversing the burden of proof - it is for platforms to show they are safe by design.

The age staircase

The Commission describes the age rules as a staircase that follows how children grow up. They would apply to social networking and video-sharing services with what it calls proven risky features.

How ages would be checked

The Commission says a date-of-birth box is today the only barrier. Under the proposal, a self-declared age would explicitly not be enough. Social media and video-sharing services would have to verify age when someone opens a new account, and online services and app stores would have to use age assurance tools.

The Commission says platforms would not check identity documents or learn who the user is. Age would be confirmed by certified tools that are independent of the platforms, including a free EU age verification app and, later, the European Digital Identity Wallet, and the platform would learn only whether the user is above or below the age. Each member state would also have to provide at least one way to prove age at no cost, including for people who have no digital ID.

Existing accounts would be checked too. Within six months of the rules applying, platforms would have to find account holders under 15 and disable their accounts, along with those whose age cannot be established. Where a platform can already estimate age from signals such as the account's creation date or credit card details, most existing users would not need a new check.

Design rules for everyone under 18

The second half of the proposal is about how services are built. For users under 18, the Commission lists these obligations:

• Addictive design: autoplay and infinite scroll would need genuine stopping points, and services could not send alerts meant to lure a child back, reward children for posting or streaming to large audiences, or use daily streaks that punish a missed day.
• Feeds: recommendations for minors would be tuned for safety, quality and mental health instead of engagement. Personalization based on tracking would be off unless switched on, and children would get a simple reset and at least one feed that does not profile them.
• Contact: strangers could not message a child who has not approved them first. Profiles would start private, location, camera and microphone access would start switched off, and livestreaming would be off by default.
• Chatbots: AI companions could not imitate human relationships in a way likely to make children emotionally dependent, and a chatbot inside a platform or game would have to stay off until chosen.
• App stores: every app, games included, would carry an age rating set by a method the store publishes, and stores would have to block children from downloading or buying apps rated above their age.

What it means for games

Online video games are named alongside social media in the design rules, so features such as daily streaks and reward tricks aimed at minors would be banned, and chatbots built into games could not switch on automatically. National authorities would supervise video games that are not online platforms. The app store rule means every game offered through an app store in the EU would need an age rating based on a published method. For how age ratings for games sold in the U.S. work today, see our ESRB explainer.

Who would enforce it

Enforcement builds on the Digital Services Act and, for AI companions and chatbots, the AI Act. The Commission would directly supervise the most widely used online platforms and AI chatbots, and national authorities the rest. Platforms with 45 million or more monthly active users in the EU would have to submit a detailed compliance plan, checked by independent auditors at their own expense, before their services come into contact with children under the new rules. Fines could reach 6% of total worldwide annual turnover. For services the Commission supervises, it proposes preliminary findings within 30 days and a final decision targeted within 90 days.

Why the Commission proposed it, and what happens next

The Commission says a single EU regulation avoids a patchwork of national age limits under which a child is protected in one country and not the next. The proposal follows the report of a Special Panel on Child Safety Online, more than 60 experts first convened in March 2026, which reported in July. The Commission also cites its Special Eurobarometer on the Digital Decade 2026, in which 92% of Europeans said strengthening the protection of children and young people online is a top policy priority.

The proposal now goes to the European Parliament and the Council. The draft text sets no calendar date yet: the regulation would enter into force 20 days after its publication in the EU's Official Journal and apply six months after that, with some parts starting earlier or later. Children, parents, educators and the platforms covered can send views through the Commission's consultation until midnight Brussels time on December 3, 2026.