The European Commission published its Kids Act on September 16, a day after Ursula von der Leyen announced it in her State of the Union address, per Euronews. The draft sets four age tiers. Under-3s are barred from social media and other high-risk services. Children from 3 to 13 get child-friendly services under adult supervision, 13- and 14-year-olds get restricted accounts, and full access starts at 15. It covers social platforms, video-sharing sites, online games, and AI chatbots that give minors mental-health or personal-development advice. Educational services and public-authority platforms are excluded.
None of this is law yet. The Kids Act is a Commission proposal. It has to clear the European Parliament and the Council before it binds anyone, and both can amend it. The draft requires age verification at account creation through an EU-wide app or national schemes. It bans infinite scroll, artificial notifications, and engagement-reward mechanics for minors, and sets minors' accounts to private by default. Platforms designated systemically risky under the Digital Services Act would need Commission authorization before launching features that affect children. Companies would pay supervisory fees to fund the oversight.
For anyone shipping a consumer chatbot in Europe, the coverage test matters: tools offering mental-health or personal-development advice to minors sit inside the scope. That pulls in general assistants with wellbeing features, companion apps, and tutoring products. Age assurance at account creation is the expensive part. It needs a verification integration and a retention policy for whatever the check returns.
Bottom Line
The Kids Act is a proposal with a long legislative road, and its scope already reaches AI assistants that advise minors. If you run a consumer chatbot in the EU, start scoping age assurance now. The verification integration takes longer than the compliance memo.