Kids Act enters parliamentary debate, with age verification, data protection and platform accountability at the center of the dispute

The first plenary debate after the presentation of the EU KIDS Act shifted the discussion from the age thresholds, already announced in September, to how they can be verified without excessive user identification and to the responsibility of platforms for the services offered to minors. The Commission defended the proposal and the parallel application of the Digital Services Act, stating that the current findings against some platforms are preliminary and do not represent definitive sanctions.

Age verification without excessive collection of personal data, the role of parents and the obligation for platforms to demonstrate that their services are safe for minors dominated the European Parliament’s first debate on the EU KIDS Act after the Commission presented the proposal. The debate did not modify the text and did not introduce new restrictions for users: the regulation is still at the beginning of the legislative procedure and must be negotiated by Parliament and the Council before it can become law.

In brief

1.MEPs discussed the Kids Act proposal presented by the Commission on 17 September in plenary for the first time.

2.The debate focused on age verification, data protection, the role of parents and the responsibility of platforms for the features of services intended for minors.

3.Henna Virkkunen defended the approach under which platforms must demonstrate that their services are safe and age-appropriate, instead of transferring all responsibility to children and parents.

4.The Commission is applying the Digital Services Act in parallel and has preliminary findings against some platforms concerning addictive design or the protection of minors. These findings are not final decisions and are not equivalent to sanctions already imposed.

5.The Kids Act remains a legislative proposal under the ordinary legislative procedure. The debate on 6 October was not a vote to adopt the regulation.

Age thresholds are no longer the main novelty. The Commission’s proposal, which 2EU presented on 17 September, would prohibit personal social media accounts for children under 13, allow access at 13 and 14 only through accounts controlled by a parent or guardian, and allow an account to be opened independently from the age of 15. Protections concerning how services are designed would continue until the age of 18.

The dispute in Parliament mainly concerned how such thresholds can work in practice. A system based exclusively on declaring one’s date of birth can easily be bypassed, while verification based on identity documents, biometric data or other personal information may create its own privacy risks. Several MEPs called for any European system to demonstrate the required age without turning the check into a mechanism for identifying, tracking or profiling the user.

The Commission is building the proposal around verification solutions that should transmit only the necessary information to the service, for example that the user has exceeded a certain age threshold, without providing their identity or exact date of birth. Member States would be expected to make available at least one free method of proving age, and the European solution developed around digital identity infrastructure is one of the options under consideration.

The debate also highlighted the difference between the responsibility of parents and that of providers. Henna Virkkunen, the Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, defended the principle that platforms must build safe services for minors, and that protection cannot depend exclusively on parents’ ability to configure controls or on children’s behaviour.

This approach is also relevant to the “safety by design” obligations in the proposal. The Kids Act would limit for minors features such as recommendations based on behavioural tracking, notifications and mechanisms designed for compulsive use, unsolicited contacts and certain functions of AI-based companions and chatbots. Minors’ profiles would be expected to benefit from protective default settings.

These provisions are legislative proposals and are not obligations already applicable under the Kids Act. Parliament and the Council may amend the text, and the implementation timetable will depend on the final form adopted and on the publication of the regulation.

In parallel, some obligations concerning the protection of minors already exist under the Digital Services Act. The Commission has used this legislation for investigations into how large platforms assess and reduce risks for children and teenagers.

In 2026, the Commission sent TikTok preliminary findings concerning design that may encourage compulsive use and, separately, concerning minors’ account settings. Meta likewise received preliminary findings concerning the design of Instagram and Facebook and the effectiveness of measures intended to prevent children under 13 from using the services.

These stages do not represent definitive findings of infringement or fines. In DSA proceedings, companies have the opportunity to examine the evidence in the file and respond before the European Executive adopts a final decision. The Commission may impose sanctions only after the procedure has concluded and an infringement has been confirmed.

The distinction is important because the parliamentary debate combined two processes at different stages. The DSA is already applicable legislation, and the investigations conducted under it concern existing obligations. The Kids Act is a new proposal that would add more precise rules on age-based access, service design and compliance verification.

The Commission maintains that its experience applying the DSA shows why more concrete rules are necessary. Existing guidelines on the protection of minors already recommend private accounts by default, limiting certain recommendation systems and disabling features that may encourage excessive use. The Kids Act would turn some of these safeguards into specific legal obligations if the regulation is adopted.

Parliament already had its own political position on some of these issues before the presentation of the Kids Act. In September, MEPs called for a harmonised European approach on the minimum age, privacy-preserving checks and a “youth mode” for platforms, without targeted advertising and with limits on addictive design.

The debate on 6 October did not produce a new resolution on the Kids Act. The parliamentary procedure associated with the Commission’s statement concluded on the same day, while the legislative proposal itself, 2026/0286(COD), continues separately through the ordinary legislative procedure.

In the meantime, the Commission is collecting comments on the proposal until 26 November from children, parents, teachers, educators and the digital services concerned. The contributions will be summarised and forwarded to Parliament and the Council for the legislative negotiations.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/news/kids-act-intra-in-dezbaterea-parlamentului-cu-verificarea-varstei-protectia-datelor-si-raspunderea-platformelor-in-centrul-disputei