Europe’s Age Verification App for Kids: What is it, how does it work and how does it differ from Australia? Explained | Today’s news

The European Commission proposed on Thursday to limit access to social media for children under 13, while allowing those under 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. According to Reuters, the tool would allow social media platforms to confirm whether users meet a certain age requirement without revealing their identity.

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

What is an 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 program, with the Commission aiming to make the tool available throughout the European Union by the end of 2026.

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

Under the proposed Children Act, platforms that fail to comply with rules to protect 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 software and technical standards, with the verification system itself operating on a decentralized model. Individual member states will administer the system through designated issuers, while login credentials for age verification will remain stored on users’ smartphones. The setting is designed to prevent the creation of a central EU database containing users’ ages or records of who has passed verification.

How the EU age verification system works

Under the proposed system, users would verify their age once through an issuer authorized by their national government. The designated organization can be a digital identity service, a bank or a post office. When accessing an age-restricted platform or website, the application will then confirm whether the user meets the required age limit without sharing their exact age or identity with the service.

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This process separates the organization that issues age credentials from the platform that verifies them. The publisher would not know where and when authentication is used, and each credential would only be valid for one use, making it difficult to track the user across different services. The system would store no ID or biometric information, and its open source code would allow outside experts to study how it works.

The EU’s approach differs from systems that leave social media companies to develop their own age verification mechanisms. Instead, it seeks to create a common authentication 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,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

How is it different from Australia?

Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc had examined Australia’s approach when preparing the proposal. Last year, Australia introduced a social media ban for children under 16, but did not specify a specific verification method or implement a government-run system. Instead, individual platforms were left to enforce the requirement themselves, relying on commercial age verification providers.

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A study published by Reuters found that none of the platforms tested required proof of age from 50 accounts that identified their users as 16. Since then, the Australian government has doubled the maximum penalties and warned it could take legal action against platforms that do not comply.

If passed, the proposed Children’s Act would introduce the largest age restriction on social media in the world, potentially affecting around 450 million people in the 27 EU 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 the age of 15, saying the measure was unconstitutional and disproportionately restricted freedom of expression.

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

Greece and Spain enforce stricter social media age rules

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

In Spain, a proposed ban on access to social networks for people under the age of 16 is still awaiting a vote in parliament. Digital Transformation Minister Oscar Lopez said age verification measures must “balance the right to privacy”.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, meanwhile, said the message to the “techno-oligarchs” was that “children are protected by our democracies”.

(With agency input)