EU Kids Act would require age checks for new online accounts across games and social platforms

The European Commission proposes the EU Kids Act to require age verification when opening new accounts on social media, video-sharing sites, online games, and AI chatbots, using an EU-provided age-check tool where possible, with a minimum autonomous-account age of 15 and a tiered system for younger users (0-3 blocked, 3-13 parent-controlled, 13-15 introductory, 15-18 autonomous if safe-by-design); the act also imposes a supervisory fee to fund enforcement and defines safe-by-design criteria, while excluding education, public authorities, and certain AI products.