Ursula von der Leyen says kids social media plan: "platforms will have to prove that they are safe"

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used her yearly speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg to lay out a step-by-step EU framework for curbing minors’ social media use, amid growing worldwide scrutiny of the effects on children. The plan, named the KIDS Act and set for formal introduction Thursday alongside EU technology head Henna Virkkunen, would stop under-13s from using social media, deny personal profiles to under-15s, allow 13-to-15-year-olds only parent-monitored accounts with capped features and one hour daily, and require platforms to adopt protective design for 15-to-18-year-olds. It would also target features that promote compulsive use, with penalties reaching 6% of yearly revenue. Von der Leyen presented the plan as shifting responsibility onto online services, after calls for bloc-wide action from France, Denmark and Greece; advocacy groups have raised privacy and data-protection concerns about age checks.