EU proposal would tighten minors’ access to social media and chatbots

The European Commission’s proposed EU Keeping Internet Digital Spaces Accountable and Trustworthy Regulation, announced on 17 September 2026, would create harmonised rules for minors’ access to social networking services, video-sharing platforms, online games, app stores, operating systems, AI companions and general conversational chatbots. The EU KIDS Act would apply to small and micro enterprises while exempting certain not-for-profit, educational, research and public authority services, with adoption unlikely before 2028.

The proposal is built around tiered age restrictions, safety-by-design duties, age assurance, and burden of proof and enforcement. Children under 13 would generally be barred from creating or holding accounts on covered social networking and video-sharing services, while minors below 15 would face limits on autonomous accounts for services with specified risky features. Guardian-controlled accounts could be limited to one hour per day, and providers would need certified EU age verification tools for account access.

Enforcement would sit alongside the DSA, GDPR and EU AI Act. VLOP providers would need compliance plans and independent audits, DPAs could impose GDPR-level fines for data protection failures, and AI companions and chatbots could face fines up to 6% of worldwide turnover for noncompliance. The Commission would aim to issue preliminary findings within 30 working days and a final decision within 90 working days.

Denmark is separately consulting on a draft bill running from 7 September to 5 October 2026 that would set a minimum age of 15 for certain social media services and could take effect on 1 July 2027. Australia has already barred under-16s from accounts on age-restricted social media platforms, while the UK announced an under-16 social media ban set to begin in spring 2027.