EU KIDS Act proposes bloc-wide age gates and design mandates for platforms serving minors

The proposal extends the Digital Services Act's risk-assessment regime by adding prescriptive design bans on infinite scroll, reward mechanics, and profiling feeds for all users under 18. It also requires an EU age-verification app that stores no biometrics and mandates third-party audits for very large platforms. These measures build on the 2022 DSA enforcement actions against TikTok and Instagram for inadequate child-safety reporting. Evidence from the Commission's April age-verification pilot and procurement records shows the app relies on device-bound attestations rather than centralized identity stores, addressing some privacy critiques raised in the 2023 Spanish data-protection authority opinion. However, the text leaves open how existing accounts will be age-estimated at scale without new data collection. Australia's 2024 under-16 ban and the UK's Online Safety Act implementation both demonstrate enforcement friction when platforms control the verification layer. The EU approach shifts the burden to app stores and platforms but inherits the same measurement problem: no independent telemetry exists to verify compliance with screen-time limits. Operational impact centers on enforcement timing. The Parliament and Council must still approve the text; once adopted, the Commission can issue implementing acts within 12 months that set audit standards and penalties up to 6 percent of global turnover.