European Commission Adopts EU KIDS Act Proposal to Restrict Minors' Access to AI Chatbots and Social Platforms

The European Commission on September 17 adopted the EU KIDS Act proposal, a bloc-wide child-safety package that would set hard age gates for social media and impose safety-by-design duties on AI chatbots, online games, app stores and operating systems used by minors. The proposal would force providers to prove their services are age-appropriate and would curb companion-style AI features that simulate human relationships in ways likely to create emotional dependency.