EU to bring in minimum age limit of 15 to set up social-media accounts
The European Commission is introducing the 'EU Kids Act,' which proposes a minimum age of 15 for independent social media account creation. The legislation aims to enforce stricter age verification and 'safe by design' standards for minors across Europe.
Why it matters
This policy represents a major regulatory shift in digital safety, potentially forcing tech giants to overhaul their age-gating and data protection mechanisms.
Children across Europe will not be allowed to set up their own social media accounts until they are 15 under a new tiered age limit system designed to limit access among minors.
The European Commission is this week set to unveil its landmark EU Kids Act, which is designed to set uniform age limits for children and impose safe design requirements on companies such as Meta and TikTok .
The key policy, to be announced by commission president Ursula von der Leyen this week and published on Thursday , will also impose similar rules on artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots or so-called “companions” that already have access to children and teenagers.
The proposals are still subject to debate and formal adoption, but under a draft proposal social networks would be required to verify the age of any user who opens a new account.
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