European age-verification app for children: What is it, how does it work & how does it differ from Australia? Explained

The European Commission proposed prohibiting children under 13 from using social media, while allowing those aged 13 to 15 to access platforms through accounts supervised by their parents. ‘Online platforms can easily rely on our age verification app,’ Ursula von der Leyen said.

The European Commission on Thursday proposed restricting social media access for children under the age of 13, while allowing those aged up to 15 to use the platforms through accounts monitored by their parents.

The plan would be supported by a free, open-source age-verification application developed by the European Union. The tool would allow social media platforms to confirm whether users meet a specified age requirement without disclosing their identities, according to Reuters.

The proposal will need approval from both EU member states and the European Parliament before it can be formally adopted as law.

What is the app?

The European Commission introduced the smartphone-based application in April this year and is gradually deploying it across EU member states. Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain are currently participating in the pilot programme, with the Commission aiming to make the tool available throughout the European Union by the end of 2026.

The application will also allow users to demonstrate that they are over 18 when accessing adult websites, in line with age restrictions already established under the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Under the proposed Kids Act, platforms that fail to comply with rules protecting minors could face enforcement under the DSA. The legislation allows for fines of up to 6% of a company's worldwide annual turnover.

The European Commission will oversee the development of the software and technical standards, while the verification system itself will operate on a decentralised model. Individual member states will administer the system through designated issuers, while age-verification credentials will remain stored on users' smartphones. The setup is designed to avoid creating a central EU database containing users' ages or records showing who has undergone verification.

How the EU age-verification system works

Under the proposed system, users would verify their age once through an issuer authorised by their national government. The designated organisation could be a digital identity service, bank or post office. When accessing a platform or website with an age restriction, the app would then confirm whether the user meets the required age limit, without sharing their exact age or identity with the service.

The process separates the organisation issuing the age credential from the platform checking it. The issuer would not know where or when the verification is used, while each credential would be valid for only a single use, making it harder to track a user across different services. The system would not store identity documents or biometric information, and its open-source code would allow outside experts to examine how it works.

The EU's approach differs from systems that leave social media companies to create their own age-checking mechanisms. Instead, it seeks to establish a common verification framework that can be used across platforms and member states.

"Online platforms can easily rely on our age verification app. So there are no more excuses," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.

How does it differ from Australia?

Ursula von der Leyen stated the bloc had examined Australia's approach while preparing the proposal. Australia introduced a ban on social media use for children under 16 last year but did not specify a particular verification method or establish a government-run system. Instead, individual platforms were left to enforce the requirement themselves, relying on commercial age-verification providers.

A Reuters-reported trial found that none of the platforms tested asked for proof of age from 50 accounts that identified their users as 16 years old. Since then, the Australian government has increased the maximum penalties twofold and warned that it could pursue legal action against platforms that fail to comply.

If approved, the proposed Kids Act would establish the world's largest social media age restriction, potentially affecting around 450 million people across the EU's 27 member states.

France raises legal concerns over age ban

France's Constitutional Council last month rejected a proposed national ban on social media access for children under 15, ruling that the measure was unconstitutional and disproportionately restricted freedom of expression.

The decision highlights the ongoing legal debate over such age restrictions and suggests that national courts could play an important role in determining how the EU-wide rules are ultimately applied.

Greece, Spain advance tighter social media age rules

Greece, which is working on legislation to prevent children under 15 from accessing social media, said it expects "clear convergence" with the EU proposal. The country is targeting the beginning of next year for its own rules to come into force.

In Spain, a proposed ban on social media access for those under 16 is still awaiting a vote in Parliament. Digital Transformation Minister Oscar Lopez said age-verification measures need to "strike a balance with the right to privacy".

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, meanwhile, said the message to the "techno-oligarchs" is that "childhood is protected by our democracies".

(With inputs from agency)

About the Author

Garvit Bhirani is a journalist based in Gurugram. He is a Deputy Chief Content Producer at LiveMint, where he covers national and international news stories, focusing on accuracy and compelling storytelling for readers. <br><br> With a total of six years of experience in journalism, he has previously worked with Vaco Binary Semantics for Google, taking on the role of news curation lead, and reported from the field on health, education, and agriculture stories for 101reporters and News9. He has also served as a content editor for entertainment and news media organisations. <br><br> Garvit holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism and mass communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Gurugram University, respectively. During college days, he joined India’s only non-profit student journalism network, where he anchored daily news updates and produced his own weekly show called ‘Data Fix’. <br><br> He was selected for the YES Foundation Media for Social Change Fellowship in Delhi, the Talking Data to the Fourth Pillar residential workshop, and the VOICE Fellowship in Pune. <br><br> He holds certificates in COVID-19-verification reporting, data journalism, food & agriculture, tech policy, media literacy and countering misinformation, and tackling election disinformation courses from Thomson Foundation, IndiaSpend, The Dialogue, US Mission in India, and AFP. <br><br> He can be reached on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/garvit-bhirani">LinkedIn</a> or on <a href="https://x.com/GarvitBhirani">@garvitbhirani</a> on X

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