EU’s KIDS Act: Assessing European Support for a Youth Social Media Ban

Published on 28/09/2026

The KIDS Act, a new EU proposal, seeks to prohibit social media use for children under 13 and restrict features for those aged 13 to 15.

The legislation aims to combat phone addiction and doomscrolling while shielding children from harmful content, dangerous contacts, and mental and physical health risks.

Child rights organizations have broadly welcomed the initiative, though some caution that restricting access could drive teenagers toward more dangerous online communities.

According to Eurobarometer’s EU Challenges and Priorities poll, 91% of EU citizens agree that stricter measures are needed to regulate children’s social media use.

The most supported action, backed by 36% of respondents, was a blanket social media ban for children under a certain age.

Greece demonstrated the strongest support at 49%, followed by Bulgaria, Romania, Portugal, Ireland, and Slovakia at 44%. The lowest support came from central European nations: Austria (27%), Germany (28%), and the Czech Republic (29%).

Shifting the Burden from Platforms to Parents

However, some child rights organizations remain unimpressed with the EU’s plan.

“We support 13 as the minimum age, but we do not view this as a new ban,” said Jeanne-Marie Quashie, EU advocacy officer at Terre des Hommes Netherlands, in an interview with Europe in Motion. “Social media platforms have already set 13 as the minimum access age.”

She noted that the act’s age limit aligns with Article 8 of the GDPR, but the legislation requires improvement in how it regulates access for 13- and 14-year-olds.

Under the current framework, teenagers cannot independently create a social media account; instead, parents must initiate and confirm the account on their behalf.

The account will be managed through a linked parent profile or admin dashboard, which will set screen time limits, capped at one hour per day.

Consequently, a significant portion of the responsibility falls on parents.

“The EU KIDS Act is moving in the right direction by targeting platform design over blanket bans,” Quashie said. “However, making access dependent on a parent’s sign-up shifts the burden from tech companies to families.”

“For 13- to 15-year-olds, safety must be built in, not switched on,” she added. “Children’s access to online spaces must be conditional on safety, not parental authorization.”

Child Social Safety: What Are Europeans Most Concerned About?

Concern over child social media use is high across the EU, with around 70% of respondents expressing significant worry about cyberbullying (71%), online grooming (70%), and exposure to harmful content (69%).

Meanwhile, concern about addictive design—one of the KIDS Act’s primary targets—polled lower at just 60%, with only 28% expressing high concern.

However, there are exceptions: in Cyprus, the rate of concern about addictive design jumps to 89%, while Luxembourg follows at 87%.

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