AIBRIEF
Under the EU Kids Act, platforms would face fines up to 6% of worldwide turnover for failing to bar chatbots from simulating emotions for users under 18.
On Thursday the European Commission proposed the EU Kids Act, a draft law that would bar chatbots from simulating emotions or relationships with anyone under 18, fine platforms up to 6% of worldwide turnover, and forbid pinning AI companions at the top of a minor's contact list.
Children under 13 would need guardian supervision to use chatbots. Chatbots would be barred from retaining memory across separate conversations, to limit the buildup of sensitive minor data. Social networks, video platforms, and games would be prohibited from automatically activating or pushing AI companions onto minors. The draft explicitly names Snapchat's practice of pinning its chatbot atop users' contact lists as the kind of behavior the rule targets.
President Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference that "platforms have been playing fast and loose with children's mental health." The 6% fine matches the scale used in the bloc's existing digital rulebook, including the Digital Services Act.
Simeon de Brouwer of European Digital Rights called the protections overdue but flagged their scope: "Don't we all deserve to be protected from AIs designed to be addictive, from AIs which create emotional dependencies?" His critique lands on one gap: the safeguards stop at 18, even as Ipsos polling finds roughly half of 11- to 25-year-olds across France, Germany, Sweden, and Ireland have discussed intimate or personal matters with AI chatbots.
The Kids Act is a Commission proposal, not yet law. A separate Digital Fairness Act, expected later this year, would extend addictive-design restrictions more broadly.