European Commission prepares parental-consent rule for social media users under 15

A broader EU child-safety proposal

The European Commission is preparing legislation that would require parental approval before children under 15 create accounts on social-media or video-sharing platforms, according to a draft obtained by Euronews and reported on September 15. The planned EU Kids Act would also impose safety-by-design requirements on online games, AI chatbots and AI companions considered capable of creating particular risks for minors. The proposal is expected to be formally published after being previewed in the Commission president's annual address.

The draft describes a graduated system rather than a single blanket ban. Children under three would be excluded from social media and other high-risk services. Those between three and 13 could use child-oriented services under adult supervision, while users aged 13 to 15 would receive restricted access under parental control. People aged 15 to 18 could access platforms independently, but the services would still owe them age-appropriate design protections.

Platforms would have to verify age when new accounts are opened, using the EU's proof-of-age application or compatible national systems. Existing accounts could face proportionate checks based on risk and account history. The Commission's official age-verification framework says its technical approach is designed to confirm that a user has crossed a required age threshold without disclosing identity or an exact birth date.

Design rules and enforcement

The draft would prohibit or restrict features associated with compulsive engagement, including infinite scrolling, artificial notifications and some reward mechanisms. It would require safer default settings, private accounts for minors, barriers preventing unknown adults from making contact and straightforward tools for reporting harmful material. Recommendation systems would also have to reduce engagement-driven pathways that repeatedly push children toward increasingly extreme content.

Enforcement would place more of the evidentiary burden on technology companies. Large services already subject to the Digital Services Act's systemic-risk regime could be required to obtain Commission approval before introducing features that materially affect children. A supervisory fee paid by regulated businesses would finance oversight. Educational services, public-authority systems and AI tools intended for industrial or office use are outside the reported scope.

The proposal responds to growing pressure for a harmonised European rule. France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Poland and Greece have considered or advanced national measures, creating a risk of fragmented age thresholds and compliance systems. The decisive questions will be whether lawmakers preserve the proposed age bands, how privacy protections work in practice and whether the final law gives regulators enough capacity to enforce design obligations rather than relying only on account-age checks.