The European Commission is preparing the EU Kids Act, a proposed bloc-wide framework intended to make online services safer for children and teenagers. Both accounts describe restrictions affecting social media, online games and artificial-intelligence tools, including chatbots, but they place different weight on how far the plan would go.

One account emphasizes that the proposal would not amount to a complete internet ban for people under 15. Instead, it describes a tiered approach: children up to 12 would be limited to age-appropriate services; 13- and 14-year-olds could use certain platforms with parental permission and oversight; and users from 15 could open their own accounts if platforms meet EU safety requirements.¹ It also highlights possible limits on recommendation systems, autoplay and endless scrolling where those features are deemed likely to encourage compulsive use by minors.¹

The other account presents the plan through clearer prohibitions announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen: “No social media before 13 and no personal accounts before 15.”² Under that version, users aged 13 to 15 would receive parent-supervised, limited-function accounts with restricted screen time, while services for 15- to 18-year-olds would need safer design standards.²

The two descriptions converge on a central shift in responsibility toward platforms. Services would be expected to verify users’ ages more reliably than by relying on self-reported birth dates, and to remove features considered especially addictive for younger audiences.¹ The second account says non-compliant companies could face penalties of up to 6% of global turnover.²

The measures would still require approval from the European Parliament and the EU’s 27 member states before taking effect. For now, the debate is less about excluding children from the internet altogether than about defining which online spaces and features they can access at different ages.