Children deserve a safer internet, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen when presenting the EU Kids Act on 17 September. The proposal sets graduated thresholds for social media access, bans addictive design features like infinite scroll for under-18s, and requires platforms to verify age using a privacy-preserving "yes/no" token instead of a birth-certificate check.
Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen presented it as a delay, not a ban. Children get eased into risky platforms at 13, 15, and 18 rather than being locked out entirely.
