Brussels says EU age verification check ready amid child safety push

Published on 15/04/2026 - 13:56 GMT+2

The EU’s property verification app for online platforms is “technically ready” and volition soon beryllium rolled out, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday arsenic a increasing fig of countries propulsion up with plans to curb societal media entree for younger users.

The strategy is based connected “zero-knowledge proof” meaning societal media users volition beryllium capable to verify their property without sharing idiosyncratic information with the platforms.

Users volition beryllium capable to verify their age, for illustration utilizing authoritative documents specified arsenic physics recognition systems, with the app generating a impervious of property that is past shared with platforms without revealing idiosyncratic data.

Seven subordinate states, including France, Spain and Italy, are readying to integrate the strategy into nationalist integer individuality wallets, von der Leyen said.

European officials person warned children are progressively exposed to harmful contented online, citing cyberbullying and addictive features designed to maximise engagement arsenic examples.

Europe propulsion for kid safety

The announcement successful Brussels comes arsenic countries specified arsenic Greece, France, Spain, and Denmark are pushing up with nationalist restrictions connected children’s societal media usage.

Last Wednesday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pledged to exert unit connected the EU for standardised property verification tools successful bid to amended modulate children’s online safety, arsenic helium excessively insisted that further enforcement was indispensable to combat the “addictive design” of societal media apps for young people.

The Mediterranean state has announced plans to instrumentality a prohibition connected societal media for under-15s from adjacent year.

In France, lawmakers person already moved to propulsion authorities guardant that would prohibition societal media usage for under-15s and barroom the usage of mobile phones successful precocious schools, with MPs adopting the measure by a ballot of 130 to 21.

French President Emmanuel Macron is starring a propulsion by European leaders to sermon enactment against European children's entree to societal media, arsenic helium prepares to big a video telephone connected Thursday to sermon restrictions.

The EU's approach

The EU’s Europe-wide verification strategy would beryllium open-source, meaning that its codification could beryllium independently verified.

Officials said the purpose is to make a azygous EU-wide system, avoiding a patchwork of nationalist approaches.

However, they did not supply a timeline for erstwhile the strategy volition beryllium afloat deployed crossed the bloc, nor did they denote whether platforms volition beryllium required to follow it.

The determination is aimed astatine large platforms specified arsenic TikTok, Meta’s Facebook and Instagram and Snapchat, which person clashed with Brussels’ Digital Services Act (DSA) implicit kid information and addictive design.

Most recently, the Commission launched an probe into photo-sharing app Snapchat for failing to support children. Similar probes person been opened into Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and 4 porn platforms.

By offering its ain strategy for property verification, the EU Commission is seeking to make a much standardised mode for large tech platforms to verify users’ ages crossed the bloc.

In the look of a blueprint to verify societal media users' ages, companies person “no much excuses” not to support children online, von der Leyen said.