By Leo Marchandon
Sept 18 (Reuters) – The European Commission proposed on Thursday banning children under 13 from social media, with parent-supervised accounts until 15.
Enforcement would rely on a tool Brussels built itself: a free, open-source age verification app that tells a platform whether a user meets an age threshold without revealing their identity.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Brussels “looked at Australia,” which banned social media for under-16s last year, when drafting the proposal.
If passed, the proposed Kids Act would create the world’s largest social media access restriction, covering 450 million people across 27 countries.
WHAT IS THE APP?
A smartphone app developed by the European Commission, presented in April 2026. It is being rolled out through member states, with seven pilot countries: Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain. The Commission expects EU-wide availability by the end of 2026.
It will also be used to prove users are over 18 when accessing adult sites, a restriction already implemented under the Digital Services Act.
Under the proposed Kids Act, non-compliance with minors’ rules would fall under DSA enforcement, where penalties can reach up to 6% of global turnover.
The Commission writes the code and standards; the system itself is decentralised. Member states run it through issuers they designate, and the proofs live on the user’s phone. There is no central EU database of ages or of who verified whom.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
A user proves their age once to a nationally designated issuer — a body vetted by the member state, which can be a digital ID provider, a bank or a post office. At a restricted site, the app certifies that the user is above the required age threshold. The platform receives only a yes-or-no response.
Issuance and verification are handled by separate entities. The proof provider is not told which service the proof was used for. Each proof works only once, preventing cross-service tracking. No identity documents or biometric data are retained. The code is open-source, allowing independent scrutiny.
The significance of the EU approach is that it provides a common age-verification mechanism rather than leaving individual platforms to develop and enforce their own systems.
“Online platforms can easily rely on our age verification app. So there are no more excuses,” von der Leyen said.
HOW DOES IT DIFFER FROM AUSTRALIA?
Australia legislated a minimum age of 16 but prescribed no method and built no state infrastructure. Everything was left to the platforms themselves, using commercial vendors.
A shadow trial reported by Reuters found platforms requested age proof on none of 50 test accounts declaring an age of 16. Canberra has since doubled maximum fines and threatened court action.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The proposal must be approved by EU member states and the European Parliament before becoming law.
Greece, which is legislating an under-15 ban, said it expects “clear convergence” with its own approach and aims for its law to take effect early next year.
Spain’s under-16 ban awaits a parliamentary vote. Digital Transformation Minister Oscar Lopez says age systems must “strike a balance with the right to privacy”. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the message to the “techno-oligarchs” is that “childhood is protected by our democracies”.
In France, however, the Constitutional Council last month blocked a national under-15 ban, deeming it an unconstitutional and disproportionate infringement on freedom of expression. The ruling illustrates that the legal framework remains contested and that national courts will help shape the environment in which the EU regulation is implemented.
(Reporting by Leo Marchandon in Gdansk; Editing by Matt Scuffham and Barbara Lewis)
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