EU Builds Free Open-Source App to Enforce Social Media Ban on Children

The European Union has created a free, open-source age verification application to assist in enforcing its proposed restrictions on social media for children across the EU. The Kids Act would prohibit children under 13 from using social media, while users aged 13 and 14 would only be permitted to use parent-supervised accounts. If enacted, these rules would apply to all 27 EU member states, home to approximately 450 million people.

The age verification app aims to ascertain if a user meets an age requirement without disclosing their identity. The Commission is developing it as a unified system instead of requiring each social media platform to create its own age-checking technology.

Users would authenticate their age once via an issuer recognized by their member state, such as a digital identity provider, bank, or post office. Subsequently, when accessing age-restricted services, the app would merely inform the platform whether the individual meets the necessary age threshold, without sharing the user’s identity.

The system is decentralized, meaning there would be no central EU database storing users’ ages or records of their verification locations. The issuing and verification functions are also separated, ensuring that the organization issuing an age proof is unaware of which service later utilizes it. Each proof can only be used once, aiming to prevent user tracking across different services.

Additionally, the system does not store identity documents or biometric information, and its open-source code allows for independent examination.

The technology extends beyond social media to verify users' ages for adult websites, a requirement already addressed by the Digital Services Act. Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, and Spain are currently involved in pilot countries for the age verification technology. The European Commission anticipates the system to be accessible throughout the EU by the end of 2026.

EU President Ursula von der Leyen stated that platforms would be able to utilize the Commission’s age verification system, arguing that this eliminates excuses for not verifying users’ ages. Companies breaching the proposed rules could face fines up to 6% of their global annual sales and supervisory fees. The EU proposal follows similar moves to restrict children’s social media access in Australia, Britain, China, India, Turkey, and various European countries.

If adopted, the EU proposal would establish a unified age-verification mechanism across all 27 member states instead of allowing individual platforms to develop and enforce separate systems.