A new proposal this week from the European Commission, if enacted, would set some of the tightest restrictions yet on technology products, from social media to games to AI chatbots.
The EU Kids Act would follow, and in some ways surpass, similar measures that have been imposed in Australia, the UK, China and India, and would require tech companies such as Meta, Google, YouTube and Roblox to change the way they do business. But first, the legislation will need to be vetted, debated and voted on.
Its pillars include a social media ban for kids under 13, age verification for online accounts and requirements for tech companies to provide proof that their online services are safely designed. The proposal is the formal version of what’s been discussed for months and is a result of mounting public pressure for governments to get a handle on easily accessible technologies that have been shown across research and in court judgments to cause harm to children, such as internet addiction and vulnerability to contact from predators.
“Our Kids Act is reversing the burden of proof — it is for platforms to show they are safe by design,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement Thursday. “And we put parents back in the driving seat, giving them the tools to help their children navigate a safer online world.”
Megan Jenkins, an analyst at Assembly Research who studies AI and online safety, said the Kids Act “goes further than other legislation proposed so far, and represents a big shift from the blanket social media bans we’ve seen in countries such as Australia.”
Jenkins said the biggest change from some of those laws is creating a burden of proof for tech companies to demonstrate that their products are safe, which would be the first law of its kind. “If tech companies can’t prove this, they would be unable to provide services to minors,” she said.
What’s in the EU Kids Act #
Discussion of what would and wouldn’t be in the Kids Act began days earlier when drafts of the proposal were leaked. Ultimately, what ended up in the Kids Act is broader than what was expected — in addition to a tiered age system for when teens can access social media, it would require companies that make online games, AI chatbots or companions, and social networks to prove that they’re safe and free from features like infinite scrolling that could be considered manipulative or addictive to children.
The biggest component is the social media ban for those under 13 years of age. For teens under 15, parents could create a mini account accessible through their own account on age-appropriate social media or video-sharing platforms. Screen time would be limited to an hour per day. Teens aged 16 to 18 could create anonymous accounts without parental consent.
Two other major pillars of the proposal are aimed at tech companies. They would be required to include no addictive design features and would need to provide easy-to-use parental controls, recommendation algorithms that are safe for kids and no options for minors to livestream. They would also be required to verify ages for new accounts or anyone logging in to an existing account.
The last part of the proposal covers enforcement: The EU would speed up the time it takes to investigate violations, with the goal of concluding them within 90 days. Companies with 45 million or more active users would need to submit a compliance plan for any new services or features and face a review of up to 30 days. New features, services or functionalities that don’t meet a “positive opinion” from the European Commission would not be allowed.
The age verification ‘sticking point’ #
Even if the EU proposal is passed without too many changes, enforcing it will be a challenge. It would likely face legal challenges from some of the world’s biggest tech companies and, as countries such as Australia have found, it’s hard to impose constraints that teens can’t find ways to get around.
“These restrictions are also not likely to be successful, as seen with other age verification and social media bans that have been consistently circumvented by tech-savvy kids,” said David Inserra, a fellow for free expression and technology at the Cato Institute.
Inserra added that the age verification technologies themselves pose privacy issues, “creating massive amounts of sensitive identification data that will be subject to hacks and data breaches” for teens as well as adults.
Jenkins agreed that age verification has remained a “bit of a sticking point” for online safety regulation due to privacy concerns, but said she believes the Kids Act is a positive step in moving away from blanket social media bans for kids.