EU proposes social media ban for children under 13
Under the proposal, children below 13 would be barred from social media, while those aged 13 and 14 would be permitted to use restricted “mini accounts” under parental supervision
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Published: Sep 16, 2026 8:30 PM | 2 min read
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The European Union is moving towards an EU-wide ban on social media access for children under 13, as Brussels looks to tighten rules governing how technology platforms interact with younger users.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the proposed “EU Kids Act” during her State of the Union address on Wednesday, saying technology companies needed to take greater responsibility for protecting children online.
Under the proposal, children below 13 would be barred from social media, while those aged 13 and 14 would be permitted to use restricted “mini accounts” under parental supervision. These would include limitations on features and usage time. Platforms would be required to provide safer designs for users aged 15 to 18.
The proposed rules are also expected to extend beyond conventional social networks to other digital services used by children, including video-sharing platforms, online games and AI chatbots. The framework would put greater responsibility on technology companies to verify users' ages and demonstrate that their services are safe for younger audiences.
The move comes amid growing regulatory scrutiny globally over addictive platform design, algorithmic recommendations and children's exposure to harmful content. Von der Leyen said Europe did not have to accept addictive features or children being pushed towards increasingly extreme content.
The Commission is expected to publish further details of the proposal on Thursday. The legislation would still need to be negotiated and approved by the European Parliament and the EU's 27 member states before becoming law.
The EU already regulates children's online protection through measures including the Digital Services Act, while the Commission has also been developing privacy-preserving age-verification technology.
In India, there is currently no comparable statutory minimum age restricting children's access to social media. However, India's Digital Personal Data Protection framework places specific obligations around processing children's personal data and parental consent. The European proposal could therefore add to the wider regulatory debate over whether child-safety obligations should extend beyond data protection and content moderation to the design of platforms and children's ability to access them in the first place.
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Digital Services Act
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