Full Breakdown
EU’s “Kids Act” proposes a continent-wide age-verification app for social media
By Drooid · · How we work
The proposal and its technical core
On September 18 the European Commission announced a draft law that would ban children under 13 from accessing social-media platforms and require parental supervision for users aged 13-15. Enforcement is to rely on a free, open-source age-verification app that the Commission itself developed. A user proves their age once to a nationally designated issuer—such as a digital-ID provider, bank or post office—and the app returns only a “yes” or “no” answer to a restricted site. No identity documents, biometric data, or central EU database are stored, and each proof can be used only once, preventing cross-service tracking.
Scope, pilot rollout and penalties
The draft “Kids Act” would affect roughly 450 million people across the EU’s 27 member states, making it the world’s largest social-media access restriction. Seven countries—Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain—are piloting the system, with EU-wide availability planned for the end of 2026. Under the Digital Services Act, non-compliance with the age rules could attract fines of up to 6 percent of a platform’s global turnover.
Official positions and national developments
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU looked to Australia’s recent under-16 ban while drafting the proposal, but added that the EU’s approach provides a common verification mechanism rather than leaving platforms to devise their own solutions. Digital Transformation Minister Óscar López of Spain emphasized the need to balance privacy with age checks, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez framed the measure as a democratic defence of childhood against “techno-oligarchs.” In France, the Constitutional Council blocked a national under-15 ban, deeming it an unconstitutional restriction on freedom of expression, illustrating ongoing legal contestation.
What comes next
The Kids Act must still be approved by the European Parliament and by each member state. Greece, which is pursuing its own under-15 ban, expects “clear convergence” with the EU framework and aims to implement its law early next year. Spain’s under-16 ban awaits a parliamentary vote, while other member states are monitoring the pilot results before committing to the EU-wide system.