{"slug": "eu-s-kids-act-to-ban-social-media-for-under-13s-curb-chatbot-access", "title": "EU's Kids Act to Ban Social Media for Under-13s, Curb Chatbot Access", "summary": "The European Union will ban children under 13 from social media, some gaming platforms, and AI chatbots without parental supervision under the Kids Act, to be published Thursday, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday. Children aged 13 to 15 will need parental consent to create accounts, and social media companies, online gaming services, and AI chatbot providers must add safeguards against abuse and addictive behavior and verify user ages with an official app. Noncompliance could bring fines of up to 6% of global annual revenue.", "body_md": "The EU will ban children under 15 from using social media platforms, some gaming platforms, and AI chatbots without parental supervision. The ban is set to be outlined in the Kids Act, which will be published on Thursday, reports *[Financial Times](https://www.ft.com/content/410db291-f133-4d72-b883-b2d5a32abbf8)*.\n\n\"No social media under the age of 13. No personal account under the age of 15,\" said the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in a speech on Wednesday. \"Europe has the power to act. It is us who decide the rules, not big tech.\"\n\nAccording to a draft proposal seen by *FT*, children under 13 will only be allowed access with supervision from a parent, while children between 13 and 15 will need parental consent to create accounts with parental controls and other restrictions like time limits.\n\nMeanwhile, social media companies, online gaming services, and AI chatbots will be required to introduce safeguards to protect children from abuse and addictive behavior, and companies that offer AI companions and chatbots services will have to avoid designs that encourage unhealthy emotional attachments or expose them to harmful interactions.\n\nAffected companies will also be required to verify the age of users with an official age verification app. Failure to comply with the rules could result in fines of up to 6% of their global annual revenue. \n\nThis article, \"[EU's Kids Act to Ban Social Media for Under-13s, Curb Chatbot Access](https://www.macrumors.com/2026/09/16/eu-kids-act-ban-social-media-under-13s/)\" first appeared on [MacRumors.com](https://www.macrumors.com)\n\n[Discuss this article](https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/eus-kids-act-to-ban-social-media-for-under-13s-curb-chatbot-access.2489522/) in our forums", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/eu-s-kids-act-to-ban-social-media-for-under-13s-curb-chatbot-access", "canonical_source": "https://www.macrumors.com/2026/09/16/eu-kids-act-ban-social-media-under-13s/", "published_at": "2026-09-16 09:45:51+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-16 10:10:45.924269+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "ai-safety", "ai-products"], "entities": ["European Union", "Kids Act", "Ursula von der Leyen", "European Commission", "Financial Times", "MacRumors"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/eu-s-kids-act-to-ban-social-media-for-under-13s-curb-chatbot-access", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/eu-s-kids-act-to-ban-social-media-for-under-13s-curb-chatbot-access.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/eu-s-kids-act-to-ban-social-media-for-under-13s-curb-chatbot-access.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/eu-s-kids-act-to-ban-social-media-for-under-13s-curb-chatbot-access.jsonld"}}