Tomorrow, 17 September, the European Commission is set to propose measures restricting access to social media, video sharing platforms, AI chatbots and online games by children under the age of 15, among other restrictions (the “EU Kids Act”).
This proposal follows various EU member states putting forward their own national age restriction measures. The Irish government confirmed earlier this year in their Digital & AI Strategy (previously discussed here) that they would explore potential restrictions on social media access for children, however there have been no measures proposed to date. The EU Kids Act will apply across the EU, and may remove the necessity for national measures.
Contents of the EU Kids Act
The exact contents of the EU Kids Act proposal will be clear after the publication of the proposal on 17 September. Based on reporting surrounding the EU Kids Act, it is expected that the proposal will address the following:
- Staggered age restrictions on social media, with no social media below the age of 13, supervised accounts with a maximum use of one hour a day for those between the age of 13 and 15;
- Requirements that social media platforms use verification technology to confirm users’ ages;
- A supervisory fee paid by in-scope companies to fund a new enforcement regime; and
- Requirements for companies to avoid addictive design and harmful user feeds on social media platforms.
Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen confirmed a number of these aspects of this proposal during her State of the Union speech today, 16 September. She also confirmed that addictive design on social media platforms will be further addressed by a Digital Fairness Act which will be proposed by the Commission in the Autumn.
Next steps
Following the publication of the EU Kids Act tomorrow, we will prepare a deep dive into the proposal, and consider how this will impact Irish and international organisations.
The EU Kids Act will then be negotiation by the European Parliament and Council of the European Union prior to entering into force. This process will certainly involve in-depth trilogue negotiations, and changes to the initial proposals are to be expected before a final agreement is reached. We will monitor the negotiations closely and provide any relevant updates.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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