The EU KIDS Act is now open for public comment, and the eight-week consultation that began on 1 October 2026 will shape how Europe restricts children’s access to social media. The European Commission tabled the proposal on 17 September, and it would stop children under 13 from opening social media accounts on their own.

The full name of the EU KIDS Act is Keeping Internet Digital Spaces Accountable and Trustworthy. It covers social networks, video-sharing platforms, AI companions, general chatbots, online games and app stores that minors can reach. Public authorities, open-source platforms and non-profit educational repositories fall outside its scope.

The proposal sets three age bands. Children under 13 cannot create social media accounts autonomously, although parents can open supervised accounts on child-friendly video services. Teenagers between 13 and 15 would receive limited accounts with parental controls, and the Commission’s summary mentions a one-hour daily time limit. From 15, users get full independent access.

Platforms would also have to change their design. The EU KIDS Act targets infinite scroll and reward systems that exploit young users, and it asks providers to protect core sleep hours between 22:00 and 08:00 and school time. Minors’ profiles would be private by default, unknown adults could not contact them, and recommendations based on implicit engagement signals would be switched off unless a user opts in. AI chatbots would also be disabled by default, with persistent conversational memory off, to limit emotional dependency.

Age verification sits at the centre of the EU KIDS Act. Services must verify age for account creation under 15, using privacy-protective tools such as the EU age verification app. The text says providers must not retain identity documents or biometric data, a point that will matter to privacy advocates and to the data protection authorities.

Enforcement builds on the Digital Services Act. The Commission would supervise very large platforms and would have to decide within 90 days of opening proceedings, while national Digital Services Coordinators would handle smaller services. Very large providers must also show that their products are safe for children, which shifts the burden from regulators to companies. The EU KIDS Act complements Article 28 of the Digital Services Act and turns existing guidelines into binding law.

The Commission supports the plan with survey data. Only half of children aged 9 to 16 say they feel safe online, and 54 percent of parents back delaying the age at which children join platforms. Twenty-five member states also signed the Jutland Declaration, which asked Brussels for stronger age verification, so political momentum exists behind the EU KIDS Act.

The design rules deserve attention from developers and parents alike. By banning features that keep teenagers scrolling late at night, the Commission wants safer defaults to replace the current reliance on parental vigilance. Industry groups will ask whether one-hour limits and mandatory verification are workable across thousands of services, and consumer organisations will ask whether the rules go far enough.

Anyone can respond to the consultation, including people outside the EU, until 26 November 2026. The Commission will summarise every contribution and present the results to the European Parliament and the Council. Technology firms, child-protection groups, parents’ associations and national regulators are all likely to use that window to argue over thresholds and verification methods.

The EU KIDS Act is not law yet, and the legislative path will be long. Parliament and the Council must agree a common text, and the debate over the digital age of majority at 15 will probably be fierce. For now, the EU KIDS Act consultation gives families, schools and platforms a direct way to influence Europe’s most ambitious child online safety rules.