{
  "id": 7569392,
  "title": "EU to propose curbing social media, online games for under 15s",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/eu-to-propose-curbing-social-media-online-games-for-under-15s-7569392",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-15T13:36:39.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2026/09/15/eu-to-propose-curbing-social-media-online-games-for-under-15s"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The European Union is preparing to introduce new regulations to restrict children under 15 from accessing social media, online games, and video-sharing platforms. This proposal, set to be formally presented on Thursday, includes a tiered system of access for younger children under parental supervision. The EU KIDS Act aims to force digital giants to make their platforms safer for children by removing addictive features like infinite scrolling and artificial notifications. The law sets an EU-wide minimum age of 15 for minors to open autonomous accounts, with a tiered system for children aged 13-14 who will need parental consent to create introductory accounts with limited features. Children aged 3-13 can access fully parent-controlled accounts on child-friendly services with strict safety standards. Below the age of three, children would have no access to social media or other risky services. The EU is also developing an age check app to enforce these rules. The enforcement of the law will be funded by a supervisory fee on platforms. While the EU already has laws to protect children, such as the Digital Services Act, the new regulations are necessary as existing rules do not sufficiently ban common problematic features.",
  "summary": "A proposed new law would ban minors under 15 from opening their own accounts, with a tiered system of access under parental supervision for younger children.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 6,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Channel News Asia",
        "title": "EU to propose curbing social media, online games for under 15s",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/eu-to-propose-curbing-social-media-online-games-for-under-15s-7540236",
        "published": "2026-09-15T10:59:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "South China Morning Post",
        "title": "EU to propose curbing social media, online games for under 15s",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/eu-to-propose-curbing-social-media-online-games-for-under-15s",
        "published": "2026-09-15T11:15:21.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Korea Times",
        "title": "EU to propose curbing social media, online games for under 15s",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/eu-to-propose-curbing-social-media-online-games-for-under-15s-7545282",
        "published": "2026-09-15T12:07:03.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "EU to propose curbing social media, online games for under 15s",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/eu-to-propose-curbing-social-media-online-games-for-under-15s-7567932",
        "published": "2026-09-15T13:36:39.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "TechSpot",
        "title": "The European Union wants to ban chatbots and online games for kids under 15, not just social media",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/the-european-union-wants-to-ban-chatbots-and-online-games-for-kids",
        "published": "2026-09-15T16:32:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}