Europe’s proposed child-safety rules would make adults prove their age too

An eleven-page outline for the EU Kids Act proposes a minimum age of 15 for independent accounts on social and video platforms classified as risky. Parents could set up more restricted accounts for children aged 13–15. Enforcing that distinction would require age checks for adults as well, with an exception contemplated for accounts that have existed for many years.

The proposal also reaches apps and games, and calls for safer design: limits on addictive features, more control over recommendations and protection against unwanted contact. Very large services would have to explain protections before releasing certain products or features, with the Commission given 30 days to decide.

netzpolitik stresses that age assurance is infrastructure with consequences beyond child safety. Researchers and Germany’s Ethics Council have raised privacy, exclusion and potential censorship concerns. This article describes the September 15 leaked outline, not enacted law; negotiations and the eventual legal text can change its provisions.