EU Plans Age-Based Curbs: Under-15s May Need a Parent's Approval for Social Media

The European Commission is preparing a proposal that would set age-based rules for how children in the European Union use social media, video-sharing platforms, AI chatbots and online games. The measure, reported by Reuters and being framed under a proposed EU Kids Act, would be one of the bloc's most far-reaching interventions in children's digital lives.

Rather than a single age limit for all young users, the plan would create different levels of access depending on how old a child is.

Those aged 15 and above would be able to open and manage their own accounts. For 13- and 14-year-olds, access to social media and video-sharing platforms would require parental involvement: parents could set up introductory accounts for them, with limits on contacts and on time spent on the service. Children between 3 and 12 would have accounts controlled entirely by their parents, with access restricted to services considered suitable for children and required to meet stronger safety standards. Access for children under 3 could be prohibited altogether.

The rules would not stop at Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. They would also cover AI chatbots and online gaming platforms, reflecting the Commission's assessment that children's online activity is no longer confined to scrolling through social feeds. They message chatbots, play games, watch algorithmically recommended videos and chat with other users across many services.

Platforms would carry new obligations. They could be required to scale back features designed to encourage prolonged engagement, limit exposure to harmful recommendation feeds, and make it easier for children to report inappropriate content. They would also have to give parents stronger tools to control what their children see and how long they spend online. Age verification could become a key requirement, with social media and video-sharing services needing to confirm a user's age when an account is created, and gaming platforms checking age before allowing children to download games. A supervisory fee on technology companies has also been floated to fund regulatory enforcement and oversight.

The proposal comes amid widening concern, in Europe and elsewhere, about how digital platforms affect children's well-being. Social media companies have drawn scrutiny over designs said to encourage addiction and over recommendation systems that can surface harmful material.

Technology platforms have argued that safeguards already exist, noting that major social media applications set a minimum sign-up age of 13. Critics counter that an age limit on paper means little if platforms cannot reliably establish how old their users actually are.

The EU's approach would shift more of the responsibility onto technology companies while giving parents greater control over younger children's online activity. The exact rules could still change before the plan is formally presented and negotiated with EU governments and the European Parliament, so the final shape of any obligations remains open.