EU Kids Act Could Require Gamers to Prove Their Age Before Playing Certain Games

The EU Kids Act is set to be presented before the European Parliament this week, potentially imposing significant changes on gamers worldwide if it passes. Aimed at safeguarding children online, the legislation has been under consideration for over a year and would introduce age limits for accessing platforms such as social media sites, AI tools, and certain gaming platforms.

Documents leaked to Euractiv reveal that the act mandates providers of social media services and video-sharing platforms to verify users' ages when they create new accounts. This requirement will also extend to other services like AI chatbots and "online games that are risky to minors." However, the act will not affect industrial AI, AI office products, or educational online services.

This follows recent developments in age verification measures, with PlayStation introducing age checks in Ireland and the UK in April, and Australia implementing proof-of-age verification on Steam for R18+ games earlier this month. While the latter requires players to have an Australian credit card, which could pose challenges for adults without one.

In the United States, no federal legislation mandates age verification on online platforms, though some states have enacted such laws. The debate over age verification has been particularly contentious, intertwining concerns over online privacy and child safety. Recently, Discord even suspended its global age verification plan after hackers accessed 70,000 users' government IDs.