The European Union wants to stop kids under 15 from using social media, chatbots, and online games. The proposal comes from the EU Kids Act, announced Sept. 17 by Ursula von der Leyen and Henna Virkkunen, the EU’s executive branch. It is a draft, and it is controversial.
What the Act Proposes
The plan splits childhood into three stages:
- Under 3: no access to any services
- 3-12: accounts allowed only on child-friendly services, fully controlled by parents, with strict safety rules including limited user-to-user contact and time limits
- 13-14: kids can ask parents for special introductory accounts on social media and video-sharing platforms, again with limited user-to-user contact and time limits
- Once a child hits 15: full access to social media, chatbots, and gaming with only usual restrictions on adult content
The Official Line
The EU’s own document says the approach should let minors “benefit from the huge potential of digital services” while protecting them from abuse and exploitation. It also says the act “needs to limit the access of tech companies to our children, and not the other way around.”
What Companies Pay
Companies would pay a “supervisory fee” to fund regulators’ enforcement and post-implementation supervision. They would also have to remove features designed to keep users glued to the screen, and add age verification for new accounts and downloads.
What Comes Next
Further drafts with EU member countries and the European Parliament will follow before final terms are agreed. The proposal is a draft, and it could change.
Who Decides Child-Friendly
The act does not define what a child-friendly service is. That leaves room for interpretation, and the paper wonders who gets to decide.
Digital Rights Pushback
Digital rights advocates have expressed concerns that increasingly rigorous regulations might be weaponized to target marginalized populations and adult creators and consumers of adult content.
Industry Response So Far
Virtually every platform has added more parental controls, and destinations like Roblox and Discord have implemented age verification. Whether they support this draft remains unclear.
Who is protecting what
The EU is proposing to force tech companies to cut off service to children entirely below 15, funded by a “supervisory fee” from the same companies. The paper suspects Companies gain regulatory funding but lose younger customers; the EU gains control over tech companies’ terms and fees. The practical effect is that the EU sets the rules for what counts as “child-friendly,” while companies pay to enforce them.
The paper suspects the EU is protecting its ability to dictate how companies price and package their services, since the act places significant control over terms and fees in the hands of regulators. The companies, meanwhile, are paying a fee that funds the very regulators who will judge whether their services are child-friendly. Ask yourself why a company would agree to fund the people deciding its fate.
The proposal is a draft, and it could change. The question remains: who decides what counts as “child-friendly” services? The answer will matter more than anyone admits.
Key Facts at a Glance
| Stage | Age | Allowed Services |
|---|---|---|
| Under 3 | Under 3 | None |
| Younger Childhood | 3-12 | Child-friendly accounts, parent-controlled |
| Older Childhood | 13-14 | Introductory accounts on request |
| Adult | 15+ | Full access |
The EU is asking tech companies to cut off service to children below 15 entirely. Companies pay a fee to fund the regulation. Who decides what counts as “child-friendly” services? The proposal does not say, and the paper suspects the answer will matter more than anyone admits.
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