EU announces plan to ban social media for under 13s

Key Points:

• The European Union plans to ban social media use for children under 13 and impose restrictions for older minors, including "mini accounts" with parental supervision and a one-hour daily limit for 13- and 14-year-olds, announced European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
• A new EU-wide Kids Act will shift the burden of proof onto social media platforms to demonstrate their safety for minors, aiming to create consistent regulations across member states amid varying national approaches.
• The proposed regulations follow similar moves by individual EU countries, such as France, Spain, Denmark, and Sweden, though some bans, like France’s under-15 social media ban, have faced legal challenges.
• Legal experts view the Kids Act as a significant regulatory framework comparable to the Digital Services Act and AI Act, potentially simplifying compliance for companies by replacing fragmented national laws with a unified EU standard.
• Von der Leyen also addressed AI risks, emphasizing the need to manage threats like advanced hacking, and plans to engage leading AI developers in discussions to slow the technology’s development responsibly.