EU KIDS Act Proposal Sets Out Safer Digital Service Rules for Minors Across Europe
The European Commission's EU KIDS Act proposal would establish a more consistent approach to protecting minors across online services, from social networks and games to AI chat companions.
The European Commission has published its proposal for the EU KIDS Act, a planned framework intended to strengthen online protections for children across the European Union. The proposal, formally published on 17 September 2026, outlines an age-based approach to access, privacy-conscious age assurance, and safety-by-design expectations for services that minors use or can access.
For companies building consumer-facing digital products in Europe, the immediate development is not a new binding obligation. It is a proposal entering the EU legislative process. However, its direction is clear: products serving younger users may increasingly be expected to make safety and wellbeing part of their core design rather than an optional setting added later.
The Commission is accepting views through 26 November 2026. Businesses, developers, parents, educators and other stakeholders can review the proposal and submit feedback through the European Commission's EU KIDS Act proposal page. The consultation comes before the proposal advances through Parliament and Council processes.
What the EU KIDS Act proposal puts on the table
The EU KIDS Act, short for EU Keeping Internet Digital Spaces Accountable and Trustworthy, is intended to create a more harmonised EU-wide minimum standard for protecting minors online. It builds on earlier Commission work on child online safety and sits alongside the wider Digital Services Act environment.
A central idea is gradual access based on age. Rather than treating all under-18 users identically, the proposal contemplates different account access and feature availability as children get older. Younger users could have greater parental or guardian involvement, while older minors would receive progressively more autonomy.
The proposal also places emphasis on safety by design. Services used by minors could be expected to provide stronger protections by default, rather than relying on children or parents to discover and enable every available safety control. Official materials point to measures such as private profiles by default for minors, easier ways to block or silence other users, fewer disruptive or addictive design elements, and limits on push notifications during night hours.
Age assurance is another major component. The Commission's approach is intended to support verification methods that protect privacy, including EU-wide age-verification tools that do not retain identity documents or biometric data. The proposal therefore signals an effort to avoid making child protection dependent on broad identity-data collection.
| Area | What the proposal outlines | What businesses cannot assume yet |
|---|---|---|
| Age-based access | Progressive access to accounts and features, with parental or guardian involvement for younger users. | The final age thresholds and detailed feature rules. |
| Safety by design | Higher default protections, including private minor profiles and controls over interactions and notifications. | The final technical requirements for each type of service. |
| Age assurance | Privacy-conscious verification supported by technologies that avoid retaining identity documents or biometric data. | The precise tools or implementation methods that will apply. |
A broad range of digital services could be affected
The proposal's scope extends beyond conventional social media. The Commission identifies social networks, video-sharing platforms, online games, AI-based chat companions, and related app stores or service ecosystems as relevant online environments. That breadth matters because a business does not need to identify itself as a social platform to consider whether minors may access its product.
For AI chat companions in particular, the proposal signals that interaction design may become part of the child-safety discussion. The relevant question is not simply whether an AI feature exists, but how younger users can encounter it, what defaults apply, and how easily harmful or unwanted interactions can be limited.
The proposal also shifts more responsibility toward platforms, especially very large online services, to show that products are designed with minors' safety and wellbeing in mind. Smaller providers are not the stated centre of that accountability focus, but a harmonised EU framework could still influence product expectations across the wider online-service market.
Practical preparation for product teams
Because the EU KIDS Act remains a proposal, businesses should not treat preliminary concepts as final legal requirements. Still, the consultation period is a practical opportunity to assess where a product could intersect with the direction of travel.
Teams operating across EU markets may find value in reviewing:
- Minor access points, including sign-up flows, guest use, app-store distribution and features that can be reached without an account.
- Default settings for younger users, especially profile visibility, direct interactions, notifications and tools for blocking or silencing others.
- Data handling around age assurance, including whether a proposed approach can establish an age-related outcome without retaining sensitive identity or biometric information.
- Product and promotional journeys, where a service is likely to attract minors even if it was not designed exclusively for them.
This is primarily a product-design and operational exercise at this stage. A consistent EU approach could reduce the difficulty of navigating divergent national expectations, but the final legislative text will determine the rules that ultimately apply. Companies with cross-border services should therefore follow the proposal's progress rather than build around assumptions about final thresholds, technical standards or timelines.
For businesses offering AI chat, online communities, games or consumer apps, the proposal is a reason to identify where minors encounter the product before rules are finalised. Scalevise can help translate emerging requirements into practical product priorities, from safer interaction flows to privacy-aware implementation choices. Request a consultation through Scalevise's AI consultancy service to assess your next steps.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the EU KIDS Act?
The EU KIDS Act is a European Commission proposal intended to strengthen online safety for children through more harmonised protections across the EU. It covers ideas including age-based access, safety by design and privacy-conscious age assurance.
Is the EU KIDS Act already binding law?
No. The Commission has published a proposal, not a final law. It must progress through the EU's Parliament and Council processes before binding requirements can be established.
Which services does the proposal cover?
The proposal spans online environments where minors may spend time, including social networks, video-sharing platforms, online games, AI-based chat companions, and related stores or service ecosystems.
When does public feedback on the EU KIDS Act close?
The European Commission's public consultation is open until 26 November 2026.
Conclusion
The EU KIDS Act proposal puts child safety, age-aware access and privacy-conscious assurance at the centre of the EU's emerging approach to digital services for minors. Its final requirements are still to be decided, but companies that serve or may be accessed by younger users have a clear reason to examine their product defaults, interaction controls and age-related data practices now.