Remarks by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen on the EU KIDS Act

As the President said, we need to take control of our kids' future.

Parents, teachers, national leaders, children, they have all been talking to me about the harmful impact of social media on children and teenagers.

We all know that social media are only about grabbing attention and keeping children glued to their screen.

With our KIDS Act, we are building on our on-going efforts in minors' protection. 

Because protecting minors online remains our absolute priority. The EU KIDS Act builds on the system we have already put in place to protect children. We have behind us 3 years of Digital Services Act enforcement.

With investigations against TikTok and Meta, including on the protection of minors - addictive designs, rabbit-hole effects, weak age assurance, endless feeds of harmful content.

We came to preliminary conclusions against major pornographic platforms, all failing to put effective age verifications in place.

The same goes for artificial intelligence.

The President spoke about girls, and boys, finding their photos turned into AI-generated sexualised images.

Let me be clear: this is illegal - whether real or AI-generated. This is not only illegal, this is outrageous.

Here too, we have the tools in place. The AI Act prohibits AI systems that manipulate people or exploit the vulnerabilities of children. Those prohibitions are fully in force, and we will enforce them strongly.

But today we go a step further, with the EU KID Act, tailored for our most vulnerable ones.

We need to ensure children enter the online world gradually, in a safe environment, being only exposed to age-appropriate content.

So we need to be very clear on the limits. Below 13, no accounts.

Between the age of 13 and 15, children will be able to access social media only through guardian's accounts.

At this age, guardians play a crucial role to set up essential safeguards, such as time limits, pre-approving new contacts; or even a maximum limit of users their child can access.