On 17 September 2026, the European Commission presented the proposal for the EU KIDS Act Regulation, aimed at strengthening the protection of children in the digital environment. The initiative establishes specific obligations for certain digital services accessible to children, including social networks (such as Instagram and Facebook), video-sharing platforms (such as YouTube or TikTok), video games and online gaming services (such as Roblox or Fortnite), app stores (such as Google Play or the App Store), and certain AI systems intended to interact directly with users, such as conversational assistants (ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude), chatbots integrated into social networks (Meta AI), and AI-based virtual companion applications (Character.AI).
The envisaged obligations vary according to the nature of the service, its features and the risks it poses to children, meaning that their scope will need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
The future Regulation seeks to complement the existing European regulatory framework, in particular the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), through a harmonised European framework for the protection of children. It is currently at the legislative proposal stage, so it is not yet in force, and its content may change during the legislative process.
Key aspects of the EU KIDS ACT
The proposal is based on the need to move beyond protective mechanisms that, on their own, are insufficient to address the risks of the digital environment. These include users simply declaring their age, accepting terms and conditions, the availability of parental controls that require active configuration, or warnings about potentially harmful content. The regulatory approach shifts towards effective protective measures, embedded by design and tailored to the age of users and the specific risks of each service. These include:
- Age-based access restrictions. A tiered regime is proposed for certain social networks and video-sharing platforms with risk-related features: children under 13 would be prohibited from having their own accounts; access for children aged 13 and 14 would be permitted exceptionally through accounts created and controlled by holders of parental responsibility, with limited features; and users aged 15 and over would be able to create accounts independently. Specific exceptions are envisaged for certain video services intended for children under 13.
- Age verification and parental controls. The services concerned will be required to incorporate reliable, privacy-preserving age verification mechanisms; a simple declaration by the user will not be sufficient. Parental control tools are also strengthened to manage usage time, contacts and security settings.
- Safety by design. Protective default settings and measures addressing features that may be harmful to children would be required. These include recommendation systems that encourage excessive use, infinite scrolling, notifications designed to encourage compulsive use, unauthorised contact with strangers and certain monetisation practices in video games.
- Protecting children from conversational AI systems. Specific measures are established for conversational assistants and AI-based virtual companion applications, aimed at preventing emotional dependency, limiting the use of information from previous conversations and assessing the risks these systems may pose to children.
What would this mean for businesses?
If adopted, the Regulation would impose new obligations on providers of digital services falling within its scope, with differentiated requirements depending on the nature of the service, its features and the risks it poses to children.
The businesses concerned would need to review not only their age verification mechanisms and parental controls, but also their product design, recommendation and personalisation systems, user interaction features and monetisation mechanisms. These adaptations could also require a review of their terms and conditions, privacy policies and internal compliance procedures.
The main implication is that the proposal reinforces the requirement to integrate the protection of children into the design and operation of digital services themselves, going beyond information measures, parental supervision and documentary compliance.
The proposal envisages a supervision and penalties regime drawing on the existing mechanisms under the Digital Services Act and the AI Act, depending on the type of service or system concerned. Non-compliance could result in fines of up to 6% of the company’s worldwide annual turnover, in the circumstances and subject to the conditions set out in each regime.
This proposal reflects the European Union’s intention to place greater responsibility on digital service providers for protecting children. Although it is still a legislative proposal, its development should be monitored to anticipate potential technical, contractual and regulatory adaptation needs.
Monitoring the proposal
The text of the proposal and its legislative progress can be consulted on EUR-Lex. The European Commission also provides official information on the initiative, its objectives and the accompanying documents. The proposal is open for public consultation until 3 December 2026.
Is your business ready for the new requirements for protecting children?
At Across Legal, we help technology companies and digital service providers anticipate the impact of new regulatory requirements on their products and services, identify potential compliance gaps and define action plans tailored to their activities.
Our advisory model is based on anticipation and gradual adaptation, integrating regulatory changes into the natural evolution of products and services. This enables businesses to plan the necessary changes, minimise costs and avoid rushed redesigns when faced with short adaptation periods.
This approach combines an understanding of business and technology with a comprehensive view of the European regulatory framework, coordinating the requirements of the EU KIDS Act with the DSA, the GDPR and the AI Act to achieve efficient, proportionate and sustainable compliance.
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The brands and trade names mentioned belong to their respective owners and are used solely for informational and illustrative purposes.
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