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EU sets out social media limits for children
European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen (pictured) outlined plans to restrict children’s access to social media under the watchdog’s proposed EU Kids Act, as concerns mount over the impact of addictive online services and increasingly capable AI systems.
In her annual State of the Union address, von der Leyen told the European Parliament: “What we are witnessing is a great capture of our children. A capture of their attention, their focus, their minds.” She explained the proposed EU Kids Act would ban children under 13 from social media and bar under 15 users from having personal accounts.
Meanwhile, 13 to 15-year-olds would only be able to use “mini accounts” set up and supervised by parents, with limited features and time restrictions. Platforms would also be required to implement additional safety features for users aged 15 to 18.
“We are reversing the burden of proof,” she said, adding, “platforms will have to prove that they are safe”.
Von der Leyen noted young Europeans now spend four to six hours a day on screens, pointing to concerns around addictive features, harmful content, online bullying and growing rates of sleep issues, anxiety and suicide.
“We do not have to accept addictive features. We do not have to accept children being drawn into ever more extreme content. We do not have to accept that girls have their photos used for AI-generated sexualised images,” she argued.
The measures form part of the EU Kids Act, which the EC is due to propose tomorrow (17 September). The proposal would introduce age checks across social media, video sharing platforms, app stores, online games and AI services.
The EC is also preparing a broader Digital Fairness Act aimed at addressing addictive design features beyond services used by children.
AI tipping point
AI was also a focus of the address, with von der Leyen describing it as “the second tipping point of our times”.
She warned that increasingly capable models could create new security risks, including more powerful hacking capabilities and the potential for self-improving systems to cause mass harm.
She revealed the EC plans to work with partners including the UK and Canada on “model evaluation, verification, early warning, AI security and much more”, while also seeking greater European computing capacity and investment in local AI companies.
Von der Leyen called on the region to use AI to support sectors including healthcare, manufacturing, transport and agriculture, while retaining human oversight. “Our approach is clear. We want AI… But above all, we want AI with human agency.”
Global concerns have been mounting over the pace of AI development this week, as Anthropic and OpenAI chiefs called for a slowdown in frontier AI development after researchers warned of existential risks from increasingly capable systems.
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