European Commission proposes EU KIDS Act on child safety online

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The European Commission will propose an EU KIDS Act on Thursday to set a a minimum age for accessing social media throughout the bloc.

The proposal will come with an EU-wide minimum age and requirements for online products to be safe by design, according to parts of preparatory documents seen by POLITICO.

Commission spokesperson Olof Gil confirmed an the act is coming on Thursday at a Monday press conference.

The new proposal comes after intense pressure by government leaders like France’s Emmanuel Macron to put minors’ safety on social media platforms at the top of the political agenda. The French government is pushing ahead with a national law to restrict kids’ access to platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

The EU’s new proposal will apply to social media, video-sharing platforms, online games and AI chatbots and AI companions, but it will excluding educational tools and will also come with some tools for parents and guardians, the documents said.

The proposal will come with a new enforcement architecture similar to those of the Digital Services Act and the Artificial Intelligence Act, including supervisory fees to be paid by companies, the documents said. These landmark laws centralize enforcement of the highest-risk companies and services to the European Commission.

The text is still subject to change before it is announced and will have to be negotiated with EU governments and lawmakers.