Inside the EU KIDS Act: A 'specification' of the DSA that goes much further

Published 17 Sept., the EU KIDS Act moved from embryo to full-fledged legislative proposal in under a year, underlining how crucial online child safety is in European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's second mandate. This new regulation provides for strong age-assurance and safety-by-design obligations for a targeted list of online services, from online social networking services to artificial intelligence general chatbots and companions to app stores and operating systems.

The EU KIDS Act comes at a defining moment for EU digital policy and regulation. The Commission calls it a "specification of the Digital Services Act." It is far more than that. The act is a significant regulatory shift, moving beyond the risk-based approach of the DSA to directly regulating product design and architecture of the targeted services. 

Beyond the headlines already reported, what does the EU Kids Act mean for online services? 

A broad scope catching 'social media+' digital services beyond social networks

Following the recommendations published in July 2026 by the Special Expert Group convened by von der Leyen, the KIDS Act goes beyond the social networks initially targeted with broad definitions. The regulation now covers "social media+" capturing not only online social networking services but also video sharing platforms, online games, AI general chatbots and companions, app stores and operating systems. Importantly, the same company can face different sets of obligations across different products where they fall under different definitions.

Borrowing definitions from other texts such as the Digital Markets Act without the architecture and conditions attached to it, some definitions can catch a wider number of digital services than initially thought.