The European Union wants to establish new common rules for minors’ access to social networks. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced the “EU Kids Act”, a proposal that proposes preventing access to social networks for those under 13 years of age and establishing different levels of protection until they reach the age of majority.

The initiative establishes two main thresholds. Children under 13 years of age would not be allowed access to social networks. Between the ages of 13 and 15, it would not be possible to have a personal account, but only specific accounts created and supervised by parents or guardians, with reduced functionalities and limitations of use. From the age of 15, teenagers could open their own accounts.

In her State of the Union speech, Von der Leyen noted that these accounts would have limited functionalities and time of use. The European Commission has specified that users between 13 and 15 years old could use social networks for a maximum of one hour a day.

The approach represents a relevant change for platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube or Snapchat, which would have to adapt the access and experience they offer to European users based on their age.

Platforms will have to demonstrate that they are secure

The proposal is not limited to establishing minimum ages. For users between 15 and 18 years old, the “EU Kids Act” states that platforms have the obligation to offer a safe design, also transferring part of the responsibility for the protection of minors to the technology companies themselves.
“Platforms will have to demonstrate that they are safe”Von der Leyen pointed out during her speech. The President of the Commission defends that the issue is not only about determining when minors can access social networks, but also “when and how we allow social networks to access minors.”

The Commission places special focus on mechanisms designed to increase dwell time, the recommendation of potentially harmful content and the new risks derived from generative artificial intelligence. “We do not have to accept addictive functions. We do not have to accept that children are dragged towards increasingly extreme content”says Von der Leyen, who has also specifically mentioned the use of photographs of minors to generate sexualized images using artificial intelligence.

The future regulations also contemplate age verification mechanisms for the affected platforms. According to the preparatory documentation known before the presentation, the scope could go beyond social networks and include video platforms, online video games, chatbots and artificial intelligence companions, although the final text will determine which services and categories are subject to each obligation.

Europe follows in Australia’s footsteps, but proposes a gradual model

The Commission has expressly studied the precedent of Australia, which established restrictions on the access of minors under 16 years of age to social networks. The European approach, however, opts for a gradual system that modifies the type of access allowed as the user’s age increases, instead of establishing a single threshold for all minors.

The initiative also comes after different member states have promoted their own measures to protect minors. The creation of a European framework would allow progress towards common rules for platforms instead of developing different regimes in each country.

The “EU Kids Act” adds to the regulatory pressure that the Commission is already exerting through the Digital Services Act. In April, for example, it preliminarily concluded that Meta was not taking sufficient measures to prevent minors under 13 from accessing Instagram and Facebook, despite the fact that that age is already listed as a limit in the conditions of the platforms themselves.
In July, the Commission also communicated preliminary conclusions against TikTok, considering the protection of minors’ accounts insufficient, especially due to the possibility of setting certain profiles as public and making it easier for their content to reach strangers.

Von der Leyen has also announced the Digital Fairness Act for this autumn, with which the Commission intends to address, among other issues, the functionalities that it considers likely to generate addictive behavior also among adult users.

The “EU Kids Act” will now have to go through the European legislative process. Therefore, the announced limits constitute for the moment a proposal and not a prohibition already in force.

More info: State of the Union