EU proposes no social media under 13, parental controls for under-15s

New Delhi: The European Commission is preparing an EU KIDS Act that would introduce age-based restrictions on social media use and place greater responsibility on technology platforms for protecting minors online. According to the European Commission, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the proposal during her 2026 State of the Union address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on September 16. The Commission said the framework would follow different protection levels depending on a user's age. Under the proposed framework, children below 13 would not be permitted to use social media. Users aged 13 to under 15 would not be allowed personal accounts but could use limited "mini accounts" established and supervised by parents or guardians. These accounts would carry restricted features and a daily usage limit of one hour. For users aged 15 to 18, social media platforms would be required to follow "safe design" requirements. Von der Leyen said the proposed rules would shift more responsibility onto technology companies, requiring platforms to demonstrate that their products are safe for younger users rather than leaving the burden largely on children and parents. She also raised concerns over addictive platform features, recommendation systems that can expose children to increasingly extreme material and the misuse of children's photographs to produce AI-generated sexualised imagery. The announcement comes as European regulators are already examining the design of major social platforms. In July, the European Commission preliminarily found Meta in breach of the Digital Services Act over what it described as the addictive design of Facebook and Instagram. That investigation covers features including infinite scrolling, autoplay, push notifications and personalised recommendation systems. Meta has the opportunity to respond to the Commission's preliminary findings before any final decision. The Commission is also preparing a Digital Fairness Act, which von der Leyen said would address concerns around addictive digital design beyond children and teenagers. The proposal is expected in the autumn. Alongside the social media measures, von der Leyen addressed the EU's approach to artificial intelligence. She said Europe wanted to expand the use of AI while retaining human oversight and increasing scrutiny around safety and responsibility. The EU plans to work with countries including Canada and the UK on areas such as AI model evaluation, verification, early-warning systems and AI security. Von der Leyen also indicated that the Commission wanted further discussions with developers of frontier AI models about safety efforts as capabilities advance. The KIDS Act proposals announced in the State of the Union speech are intended to form part of a wider push by the bloc to strengthen rules governing technology platforms and online services. Details on implementation and enforcement will depend on the formal legislative proposal and the subsequent EU law-making process.