The European Commission has published a proposal for the EU KIDS Act, short for 'EU Keeping Internet Digital Spaces Accountable and Trustworthy'. The initiative aims to protect minors from risks arising from certain online services and AI systems, including social networking platforms and video-sharing services.
According to the proposal summary, the measure is intended to uphold the digital single market while establishing a coherent regulatory framework and enforcement structure specifically for the protection of minors online.
The proposal identifies risks that minors face on social networking and video-sharing services as a particular focus area, suggesting that providers of such services could face new obligations aimed at safeguarding younger users.
This proposal sits alongside, rather than replaces, existing EU digital rules, including the AI Act. Organisations providing AI-enabled features to platforms accessible to minors should note that additional sector-specific obligations may be layered on top of AI Act requirements, such as those concerning transparency for certain AI systems.
At this stage, the KIDS Act remains a proposal and has not been adopted. As a compliance matter, organisations operating digital services likely to be accessed by minors, particularly those incorporating AI-driven recommendation, moderation or content-generation systems, may wish to track this proposal's progress through the EU legislative process.
In practice, providers should assess how a future KIDS Act might interact with their existing EU AI Act compliance work, particularly around risk classification and transparency obligations for AI systems that interact with or affect minors.