Written by Lucy Hall and reviewed, fact-checked and signed off by a SocialDay editor before publication. Read our editorial standards and corrections policy. Spotted something wrong? Tell the newsroom.
The European Commission's proposal, unveiled on 17 September, reverses enforcement burden onto platforms and bans addictive features as 23 of 27 member states were already pursuing their own incompatible age restrictions.
The European Commission unveiled the EU KIDS Act on 17 September, setting an EU-wide ban on social media accounts for children under 13 and requiring parental consent for 13 to 15-year-olds. The proposal arrives as 23 out of 27 EU member states were already contemplating national legislation to restrict or forbid access to social media under a certain age, each with different thresholds and enforcement mechanisms that threatened platform compliance chaos.
The shift is not just another age gate. The Act reverses the burden of proof, requiring platforms to show they are safe by design rather than waiting for regulators to prove harm after the fact. For social media marketers, that means the features that currently drive engagement, automated playback, infinite scroll, profiling-based recommendations, are now the compliance problem, not the solution.
Under-13s get no access to social media and video-sharing platforms. Full stop. Access to games and AI chatbots requires parental consent and oversight through default tools.
Between 13 and 15, access is through restricted "mini accounts" set up and controlled by parents or guardians with limited features, peer-only contacts and a one-hour daily screen-time limit. Guardians stay in control, with parental tools always on and parental approval of contacts.
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