November 10, 2026

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November 10, 2026

Newsletter

The European Post

Policy • Diplomacy • strategic insight

LATEST
Europe’s Public Procurement Act Bets On PreferenceOmya Antitrust Investigation Targets Exclusive RebatesAdvertising Repositories Guidance Puts Platform Ads In ViewDeforestation Rules Reach Large Operators On 30 December DeadlineKIDS Act Proposal Sets Age 15 Limit For Social Media AccountsAzerbaijan Partnership Talks Need More Than Gas And ConnectivityGulf Trade Deal Hopes Rest On The Next EU-GCC Summit DecisionTrans-Caspian Transport Corridor Needs Roads Before Rail DreamsKorea Digital Trade Agreement Gives Brussels an Asian TemplateMercosur Provisional Application Starts a Long Court WaitEU Australia Trade Agreement Leaves Farmers Relying on SafeguardsConsumer Enforcement Reform Rides With Digital Fairness ActAtlantic Hake and Sea Bream Face Cuts in 2027 Fishing Quotas2027 EU Budget Talks Race Towards Treaty Deadline of 16 NovemberEU Civil Protection Mechanism Targets Ukraine Energy EmergencyEurogroup Defence Spending Call Pushes Governments to Reorder BudgetsKallas Tells London EU UK Defence Cooperation Must Come FirstGeorgia Democratic Backsliding Pushes Tbilisi Toward EU ShowdownWater Resilience Strategy Faces Its Year-End Delivery TestNvidia General Court Ruling Tests EU Merger Referral PowerEurope’s Public Procurement Act Bets On PreferenceOmya Antitrust Investigation Targets Exclusive RebatesAdvertising Repositories Guidance Puts Platform Ads In ViewDeforestation Rules Reach Large Operators On 30 December DeadlineKIDS Act Proposal Sets Age 15 Limit For Social Media AccountsAzerbaijan Partnership Talks Need More Than Gas And ConnectivityGulf Trade Deal Hopes Rest On The Next EU-GCC Summit DecisionTrans-Caspian Transport Corridor Needs Roads Before Rail DreamsKorea Digital Trade Agreement Gives Brussels an Asian TemplateMercosur Provisional Application Starts a Long Court WaitEU Australia Trade Agreement Leaves Farmers Relying on SafeguardsConsumer Enforcement Reform Rides With Digital Fairness ActAtlantic Hake and Sea Bream Face Cuts in 2027 Fishing Quotas2027 EU Budget Talks Race Towards Treaty Deadline of 16 NovemberEU Civil Protection Mechanism Targets Ukraine Energy EmergencyEurogroup Defence Spending Call Pushes Governments to Reorder BudgetsKallas Tells London EU UK Defence Cooperation Must Come FirstGeorgia Democratic Backsliding Pushes Tbilisi Toward EU ShowdownWater Resilience Strategy Faces Its Year-End Delivery TestNvidia General Court Ruling Tests EU Merger Referral Power

KIDS Act Proposal Sets Age 15 Limit For Social Media Accounts

Xherdan Shaqiri
Senior Research Fellow, Energy and Climate

Brussels: The European Commission wants platforms to prove their services are safe for children, and the EU KIDS Act is the legal vehicle it chose. The Commission adopted the proposal in September 2026, and public feedback stays open until midnight Brussels time on 3 December 2026.

The EU KIDS Act sets two age lines for social media. It prohibits platforms from accessing children under 13, and it creates an EU-wide minimum age of 15 for minors who want to open an account of their own. The Commission calls this a gradual approach, and it limits the rule to certain online social networking services and video-sharing platforms.

The proposal also flips the usual enforcement logic. Service providers must now show that their services are age-appropriate and safe by design, instead of waiting for regulators to prove harm. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen put it bluntly: “Our KIDS Act is reversing the burden of proof – it is for platforms to show they are safe by design.”

Parents get a role as well. Von der Leyen said the Commission wants to put parents back in the driving seat, with tools that help children navigate a safer online world. The Commission’s press release on the proposal adds that the text also seeks to protect minors from risky digital services and AI systems.

Parliament already pushed in this direction. In November 2025 MEPs said children should be at least 16 to access social media, according to a Parliament press release. That is one year higher than the age of 15 in the EU KIDS Act, so the threshold looks like the first fault line in the negotiations ahead.

The burden shift matters beyond Brussels. Under the EU KIDS Act, a platform that cannot document its safety design would struggle to defend access for teenagers, and national regulators would gain a clearer test than today’s patchwork of rules. Child-safety groups have long asked for exactly that clarity, while industry groups tend to warn about the cost of age checks.

For platforms, the practical question is how to show, with evidence, that a service is safe by design. Companies that wait for the final text risk starting late, which makes the feedback window until 3 December 2026 the moment to shape the detail. Readers who want the exact obligations should consult the Commission’s proposal page, which links the legal text.

The EU KIDS Act now moves through consultation before Parliament and Council take up the text. Families, platforms and national regulators should watch whether the under-13 ban and the age-15 account rule survive those talks intact.

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