European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveils the EU Kids Act during her SOTU address, proposing a blanket ban on social media for kids under 13 (New York Times)
ThinkingNews Desk · how this was written
The European Commission’s Kids Act would prohibit children under 13 from accessing social media platforms. It also requires age-verification tools to prevent users under 15 from opening accounts and imposes limits on teen usage. The legislation is part of a broader effort to regulate online activity for younger users.
Written from all 4 reports below, not from any single one.
How it was reported
- TechMeme·European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveils the EU Kids Act during her SOTU address, proposing a blanket ban on social media for kids under 13 (New York Times)
- The Next Web·The Commission president proposes no social media for children under 13 in the EU
- Wired·The EU Bans Social Media For Under-13s
- The Next Web·EU proposes Kids Act banning social media for under-13s and capping teen use at an hour a day
- Wired·The EU Wants to Break Up Kids and Their Chatbots
- TechMeme·The EU details the Kids Act, which would require social networks to use age verification tools to stop under-15s from opening accounts, ban under-13s, and more (Edith Hancock/Wall Street Journal)
- Engadget·Europe's EU Kids Act would ban social media access for children under 13
The EU Kids Act would prohibit social media accounts for children under 13, allow supervised sub-accounts for 13- and 14-year-olds, and permit independent accounts only at 15. It requires child-friendly services with one-hour daily limits, removes addictive features such as infinite scroll and recommendation algorithms, and mandates age verification using non-biometric proxies. Compliance plans and enforcement under the Digital Services Act would apply, with penalties up to six percent of global turnover.