The European Union is considering a major change to the way children access the internet, and it could affect everything from kids use Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and various AI chatbots.
Under a proposal being prepared by the European Commission, per a report by Reuters, children under 15 could face restrictions on creating and using accounts across a wide range of digital services.
The EU’s plan is part of the EU Kids Act, which is aimed at making digital services safe for children, and it comes at a time when governments around the world are grappling with growing concerns over how digital platforms affect children’s well-being.
Social media platforms have come under increasing scrutiny over how they design their applications to be addictive, and serve harmful content that are powered by recommendation algorithms.
Rather than imposing one rule on every child, the EU proposal would create different levels of access based on age.
Children aged 15 and above would be able to create their own accounts.
For children aged 13 and 14, access to social media and video-sharing platforms would require parents to get involved.
Parents could create introductory accounts for their children, with restrictions on contacts and time spent on the platforms.
For children between 3 and 12, accounts would be controlled entirely by parents. Their access would be limited to services considered suitable for children and required to meet stronger safety standards.
The proposal could potentially ban access to digital platforms for children under 3.
The exact rules could still change before the plan is formally presented and negotiated with EU governments and the European Parliament.
One of the more significant aspects of the proposal is its broad scope.
Beyond social platforms
The rules would not stop at platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. They would also cover AI chatbots and online gaming platforms, bringing a much wider part of children’s digital lives under the proposed framework.
The proposal is being framed based on the idea that children’s internet use is no longer limited to scrolling through social feeds. They text AI chatbots, play games online, watch videos that are algorithmically recommended and chat with other users across numerous platforms.
The bloc’s views on the overall digital ecosystem could make the path ahead for social platforms and consumer-facing AI applications a bit difficult as they will have to take up new responsibilities.
More responsibilities for platforms
Platforms could be required to reduce features designed to encourage engagement and limit exposure to harmful recommendation feeds. They would also need to make it easier for children to report inappropriate content.
They will need to provide parents stronger tools to control what their children see and how long they spend on their services.
Age verification could become an important requirement as social media and video-sharing platforms would need to verify a user’s age when a new account is created. Online gaming platforms would have to check age before allowing children to download games.
Apart from features that control the use of these applications, tech companies could also be expected to pay for the system as the bloc could propose a supervisory fee to fund regulatory enforcement and oversight.
Child and the digital ecosystem
The EU’s proposal comes amid a growing clamour of voices wanting clear guardrails over a child’s relationship with the digital ecosystem.
Tech platforms have been arguing that they already have safeguards in place as major social media applications have set a minimum sign up age of 13.
But critics have complained that age limits on paper are not enough if platforms cannot reliably determine how old their users actually are.
The EU’s proposed approach would shift more of the responsibility onto technology companies, while giving parents greater control over younger children’s online activities. This could mean fewer ways for children to sign up for popular social applications on their own.
Tech firms, on the other hand, will have to operate more carefully in the bloc as rules governing how they verify users, design their platforms and recommend content to younger audiences will structurally change.
This proposal still has a long way to go before becoming law. The European Commission will need to work with EU member states and the European Parliament, and the final rules could look different from the current draft.
Published – September 15, 2026 10:32 am IST
