{
  "id": 8139033,
  "title": "EU Commission proposes under-13s social media ban",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/eu-commission-proposes-under-13s-social-media-ban",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-18T01:13:51.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Jakarta Post",
    "slug": "the-jakarta-post",
    "url": "https://www.thejakartapost.com/world/2026/09/18/eu-commission-proposes-under-13s-social-media-ban.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled a comprehensive plan on Thursday to safeguard children from online dangers, proposing to prohibit children under 13 from using social media and mandating online services to create child-friendly accounts. This initiative follows similar measures in countries like Australia, Britain, China, India, Turkey, and several EU nations, driven by concerns over the impact of platforms such as Meta's Facebook and Instagram, TikTok, Google's YouTube, and ChatGPT on children's mental health and well-being.\n\nVon der Leyen emphasized that today's children are engaging with some of the most advanced technology ever developed, which was not designed with their welfare and growth in mind. She introduced the EU Kids Act, aiming to establish clear boundaries in the digital realm as we do in the physical world. Under the proposal, children aged 13 to 15 would require parental oversight, while social media and video-sharing services, online video games, AI companions, and chatbots for users under 18 would be subject to a set of guidelines. These guidelines include restrictions on addictive features, personalized recommendation feeds, infinite scrolling, reward mechanisms, and unsolicited contact from unknown individuals. Additionally, AI companions and chatbots for children under 18 would default to being disabled. Platforms would be required to design algorithms that are safe for children, provide user-friendly parental controls, and enable easy user blocking and muting.\n\nFailure to comply with these regulations could result in substantial fines, up to 6 percent of a company's global annual revenue, and the imposition of a supervisory fee to support regulators' oversight. Tech lobbying group CCIA Europe, representing members such as Google and Meta, expressed concerns about privacy risks and potential conflicts with other EU laws. Collecting age information, identity verification, and data linking children to their parents or guardians at such a scale could become a lucrative target for cybercriminals, warned CCIA head Daniel Friedlaender. The group also highlighted the risk of creating legal overlap and duplication, which could ultimately undermine child and consumer protections.",
  "summary": "European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen set out a sweeping plan to keep children safe from online dangers on Thursday, proposing to ban under-13s from social media and require online services to design safe children's accounts.",
  "key_points": [
    "EU Commission proposes banning children under 13 from social media.",
    "EU Kids Act aims to establish clear digital boundaries for child welfare.",
    "Non-compliance could lead to fines up to 6% of global annual revenue."
  ],
  "editors_take": "The proposed EU Kids Act shifts the burden of protecting children from online harm from parents and kids to social media companies, requiring them to design safer algorithms and controls.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Record",
        "title": "European Commission set to push social media restrictions, safety requirements into law",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/17/european-commission-set-to-push-social-media-restrictions-safety",
        "published": "2026-09-17T20:36:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "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."
}