The EU Kids Act is due to be presented on Thursday, Reuters reports, with draft rules that would create different online access rules for different age groups. The draft could still change and needs agreement from EU countries and the European Parliament before becoming law.
Under the proposal, people 15 and over could open their own accounts. Parents could set up introductory social media and video-sharing accounts for 13- and 14-year-olds, with restricted contacts and strict time limits. Children aged 3 to 12 would be limited to child-friendly services through accounts fully controlled by parents. Under-3s would have no access.
The draft would also require age checks when opening social media and video-sharing accounts and before children download online games. Companies would have to avoid addictive designs and harmful feeds, a longstanding issue with these platforms.
Companies that fall afoul of the new rules won’t get off lightly. Under the draft, regulators could levy fines reaching 6% of a company’s annual revenue. Applied to Meta, which posted $200.97 billion in sales for 2025, that ceiling works out to roughly $12.1 billion. The rules wouldn’t stop at social media giants, either – app stores and AI companion services would fall under the same umbrella.
This follows an earlier EU crackdown on TikTok and Meta over addictive algorithms and shortcomings in child safety. In May, Brussels pointed to features like endless scrolling, autoplay and push notifications, and questioned whether Meta was doing enough to keep younger children off its platform.
Age verification is already underway. The Commission says its age-checking app is ready and wants member states to deploy it by year’s end. A shared system would, in theory, help platforms enforce the proposed restrictions.
The US has been moving in a similar direction. California last week enacted rules barring addictive social media features for users under 16, including autoplay and personalized algorithmic feeds. According to Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, the state’s companion chatbot protections will require independent child safety audits and annual risk assessments. Large social media companies that negligently cause harm to a child could face penalties of up to $1 million per case.
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