Abstract:
The European Union is pushing for a major legislative reform targeting the online safety of minors. According to the "European Union Children's Act" to be proposed by the European Commission, children under the age of 13 may be completely prohibited from using social media platforms in the future, and video sharing platforms, online games and artificial intelligence companion services will also be subject to stricter age restrictions and safety supervision.
A spokesman for the European Commission confirmed that the relevant legislation will apply to the entire EU in the form of unified rules. The legislative goal is to establish protective boundaries for minors in the digital environment similar to those in the real world, and to strengthen children's safety in the era of the Internet and artificial intelligence.
According to the information disclosed so far, in addition to targeting traditional social media platforms, the bill will also cover AI chatbots and AI companion applications that have developed rapidly in recent years. This means that not only social platforms such as TikTok and Instagram will be affected, but also various consumer-oriented artificial intelligence products will need to comply with special child protection requirements in the future.
The bill plans to impose mandatory obligations on platforms to "give priority to security by design". Relevant services must consider the protection of minors in the product design stage and cannot just rely on post-event restrictive measures. At the same time, the bill will also require companies to provide more complete parental control tools to help guardians manage the online activities of minors.
According to the EU's subsequent plans, children under the age of 13 will be prohibited from using social media platforms; teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15 can only use special accounts managed and supervised by guardians. Such accounts will be subject to additional restrictions in terms of functionality and usage rights to reduce the risk of minors being exposed to harmful content and becoming addicted to the Internet.
The bill also lists a series of restrictions on video platforms, online games, AI companion tools and chatbots used by users under the age of 18. These include prohibiting the platform from using product designs that can easily lead to addiction, prohibiting recommendation information flows based on user portraits, limiting infinite scrolling functions, prohibiting the use of reward mechanisms to induce continued use, and restricting unfamiliar users from actively contacting minors.
In response to the controversial AI companion services in recent years, the bill requires that relevant functions be turned off by default and must be enabled under specified conditions. The EU believes that as artificial intelligence gradually enters daily life, such systems also need to follow the principle of protecting minors.
In addition, online platforms must also establish a reliable age verification mechanism to complete age confirmation when users register. At the same time, companies need to prove that their algorithms are safe for minors and provide simpler and more intuitive tools to block and mute users.
If companies violate the regulations, the EU plans to refer to the enforcement model of the "Digital Services Law" and the "Artificial Intelligence Law" and impose a fine of up to 6% of their global annual turnover on the violating companies. At the same time, relevant enterprises also need to pay regulatory fees to support regulatory agencies in carrying out supervision work.
An important background for promoting this legislation is that many European governments have continued to strengthen restrictions on minors' use of the Internet in recent years. French President Macron and other European leaders have long called for strengthening social media supervision and have promoted restrictions on children's access to TikTok, Instagram and other platforms in their respective countries.
In fact, similar measures are not unique to the EU. In recent years, Australia, the United Kingdom, China, India, Türkiye, and many European countries have successively introduced or discussed policies restricting the use of social media by minors. However, the EU's attempt to establish a unified rules system covering 27 member states is far larger and more influential than most national-level initiatives.
Supporters believe that many current Internet products do not fully consider the psychological development needs of children. Various recommendation algorithms and immersive designs are having an increasing impact on minors, so it is necessary to establish a more stringent rule framework.
However, some industry organizations have raised concerns about related plans. Some technology industry representatives believe that large-scale age verification mechanisms may bring new privacy issues and also need to resolve coordination issues with other existing EU laws and regulations.
Currently, the EU Children's Act is still in the early stages of legislation. In the coming months, the governments of EU member states and the European Parliament will also negotiate and modify specific provisions. Only after the relevant legislative procedures are completed will the relevant regulations officially take effect.
Despite this, this proposal is still regarded as one of the most important online protection plans for minors in the EU in recent years. If ultimately passed, the EU would become one of the world's toughest regions to impose restrictions on children's use of social media and artificial intelligence services.
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