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A European Commission document seen by Reuters indicates that the proposed rules would restrict children under 15 from accessing several categories of digital services.

The proposal is expected to form part of an EU Kids Act to be presented by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU technology chief Henna Virkkunen.

The initiative comes amid growing concern over the impact of digital platforms on children’s mental health, safety and exposure to harmful content.

The proposed framework would introduce different levels of access depending on a child’s age and the type of digital service involved.

Children aged 15 and above would be allowed to establish their own accounts, while those aged 13 and 14 could be permitted to access social media and video-sharing platforms through accounts opened by parents.

Such accounts would operate under parental controls, with limited contacts and strict time restrictions.

The proposal would also extend beyond conventional social media platforms to include AI chatbots and online gaming services.

The European Commission said the broader objective would be to allow children to benefit from digital technology while reducing their exposure to abuse and exploitation.

Technology companies covered by the rules would also be required to contribute a supervisory fee to help finance regulatory oversight and enforcement.

The proposed measures reflect a growing international push to regulate children’s access to online platforms.

Governments in several countries are increasingly examining age restrictions as concerns grow over algorithmic content recommendations, online exploitation and the effects of prolonged digital use on young people.

The EU’s proposed framework could become one of the most comprehensive attempts to regulate children’s access to digital services, potentially placing new responsibilities on some of the world’s largest technology companies.

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Macron made the appeal in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen dated August 29, arguing that a common European approach was needed to protect children across the 27-member bloc.

“I believe it has now become essential to go further,” Macron wrote, calling for new European legislation to harmonise a ban on social media access for children under 15.

France had planned to introduce its national restrictions in September, but the Constitutional Council struck down the legislation this summer, ruling that the measure disproportionately interfered with freedom of expression.

Macron has now turned his attention to an EU-wide approach, making restrictions on children’s access to social media a major priority during the final year of his presidency.

Several European countries are considering tighter controls as concerns grow over the effects of social media on children’s mental health and online safety. However, some governments, particularly in Scandinavia, believe decisions about children’s social media use should remain primarily with parents.

Macron said France would also seek to rewrite its rejected legislation, although political divisions in parliament and difficult budget negotiations could make it challenging to pass a new national law.

The European Commission has already indicated that it intends to address children’s access to social media across the bloc.

Von der Leyen said in July that the EU would move towards limiting young children’s access to social media, following recommendations from two experts that proposed a gradual, age-based system.

Under that approach, children below 13 could receive only limited and supervised access, with restrictions gradually easing as they become older.

Macron is pushing for a stricter policy, calling for a blanket ban until the age of 15.

His proposal comes as governments around the world debate how best to protect children online while balancing concerns about privacy, freedom of expression and the practical challenges of enforcing age restrictions.

Australia introduced a landmark social media ban for children last year, providing a model that several governments are now examining as they consider their own regulations.

Macron is seeking support from other EU governments ahead of von der Leyen’s State of the Union address to the European Parliament later this month, potentially setting up a wider European debate over the future of children’s access to social media.

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The European Commission announced the sanctions on Thursday, imposing a €460 million fine over Google’s treatment of its own services in search results and a further €430 million penalty for restrictions within the Google Play app store.

According to the Commission, Google gave preferential treatment to its own shopping, hotel, transport and sports services in search results, disadvantaging rival platforms.

The regulator also found that Google prevented app developers from directing users to cheaper offers available through competing app stores or their own websites.

The latest penalties bring Google’s total antitrust fines in Europe to more than €10 billion over nearly two decades.

EU Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera said the Commission was enforcing legislation designed to ensure fair competition.

“Our duty and obligation is to comply with the laws, that our laws are fully respected,” she said.

Google has been given 60 days to comply with the Commission’s orders requiring it to treat rival services fairly and remove restrictions affecting app developers.

The company criticised the decision and indicated it could challenge the ruling in court.

Google President of Global Affairs Kent Walker argued that the required changes would remove features valued by users and weaken security protections within Google Play.

Despite the fines, the Commission acknowledged that Google has made significant progress towards complying with the DMA by testing changes to its search results, shopping services and Google Play policies.

The regulator said it would continue discussions with the company, suggesting additional daily penalties are unlikely if compliance efforts continue.

The Commission also said the principles established in Thursday’s decision could be extended to Google’s AI-generated Search features, including AI Overviews and AI Mode.

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The European Commission announced the sanction on Monday, saying AliExpress had failed to adequately assess and mitigate the risks associated with illegal products sold through its online marketplace.

The penalty is the third enforcement action under the DSA, the European Union’s landmark legislation that imposes stricter obligations on very large online platforms to detect, remove and limit the spread of illegal and harmful content.

The Commission had formally charged AliExpress in June 2025, alleging that the company breached the regulation by failing to properly evaluate and reduce the risks posed by illegal goods on its platform.

According to the regulator, AliExpress overstated the effectiveness of its systems for detecting and removing illegal products and failed to accurately assess whether it had enough staff to manage platform risks.

The Commission also criticised the platform’s recommendation and advertising algorithms, saying they contributed to the visibility of illegal products. It added that AliExpress relied too heavily on a single performance metric to evaluate the effectiveness of its content moderation systems.

As a result, counterfeit goods, unsafe toys and hazardous cosmetic products reportedly remained available on the platform for extended periods before being removed.

The regulator further said AliExpress failed to take effective action against repeat offenders, allowing merchants previously penalised for selling illegal products to continue operating.

It also faulted the company’s mandatory brand authorisation programme, which is intended to prevent counterfeit sales, describing it as understaffed, ineffective and easily circumvented by sellers of fake goods.

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The European Commission has directed Google to open key parts of its Android operating system to rival companies, including OpenAI, and share portions of the search data it uses to improve its services, in a major regulatory move aimed at increasing competition in the artificial intelligence and digital services market.
The directive forms part of a broad set of compliance measures under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), designed to curb Google’s market dominance and create a more level playing field for competing technology firms.

The Commission unveiled the detailed requirements on Thursday, six months after launching specification proceedings to guide Google on how to comply with the landmark legislation.

Under the new rules, Google will be required to grant competitors access to 11 core Android features, enabling AI developers to build services that can compete more effectively with Google’s Gemini AI platform.

According to the Commission, users in the European Union will, from July 2027, be able to activate third-party AI assistants using voice commands in the same way they currently use Google’s “Hey Google” feature. This would allow rival AI assistants to perform tasks such as booking taxis, searching for local businesses, and responding to user queries directly on Android devices.

The Commission also ordered Google to share the search data it uses to optimise its search engine with OpenAI and other AI chatbot providers offering search functionalities. The data-sharing requirement, scheduled to take effect from January next year, will be subject to strict anonymisation standards to protect user privacy.

In addition, the EU has established a pricing formula that will determine how Google makes the shared search data available to competitors.

EU Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, said the measures are intended to encourage innovation while giving European consumers more choices.

“Thanks to these measures, we hope to see emerging alternatives to Google Search and Google’s AI services, such as Gemini, and that users in the EU can enjoy a greater choice of services,” she said.

The Commission noted that the measures include strong security and privacy safeguards. Google will retain the ability to assess whether companies requesting access pose cybersecurity or data protection risks before granting permission. Only firms that meet the Commission’s security and privacy requirements will gain access to the Android features.

Google, however, has strongly criticised the Commission’s decision, arguing that the new obligations could weaken privacy protections and compromise user security.
Kent Walker, Google’s President of Global Affairs and Chief Legal Officer, warned that the measures could have unintended consequences for millions of users across Europe.

“Today’s decisions risk undermining vital privacy and security guardrails for millions of Europeans,” Walker said in a statement.

He added that Google had repeatedly proposed alternative solutions that would protect users while meeting the objectives of the Digital Markets Act, suggesting the company is likely to challenge the Commission’s ruling through legal channels.

The latest decision marks another escalation in the European Union’s efforts to regulate major technology companies under the Digital Markets Act.

Last year, the European Commission accused Alphabet, Google’s parent company, of potentially breaching the DMA by favouring its own services in Google Search results and restricting app developers from directing users to alternative payment methods outside the Google Play Store.

EU regulators argue that such practices undermine fair competition and violate the DMA’s requirement that dominant digital platforms provide equal and non-discriminatory treatment to competing services.

The latest enforcement measures underscore the European Union’s determination to reshape competition in digital markets, particularly as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly central to the technology industry. If implemented as planned, the rules could significantly alter how Android operates in Europe while providing AI rivals with greater access to the tools and data needed to compete with Google.

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The preliminary findings conclude a two-year investigation into whether Meta adequately assessed and mitigated risks posed by highly personalised recommendations, autoplay and infinite scrolling on its platforms.

According to the Commission, features including Reels and Stories on Facebook and Instagram can contribute to excessive or compulsive use, particularly among younger users.

EU regulators said Meta’s existing safeguards are insufficient, arguing that screen-time management tools can be easily dismissed while parental controls require significant technical knowledge to configure effectively.

The Commission has called on Meta to disable autoplay and infinite scrolling by default, introduce more effective screen-time reminders and reduce reliance on engagement-driven recommendation algorithms.

Failure to address the concerns could expose the company to significant financial penalties under the Digital Services Act.

Meta rejected the Commission’s preliminary conclusions, saying it has already introduced extensive protections for teenagers through its Teen Accounts programme.

The company said the feature automatically applies stricter privacy settings, enables parents to restrict nighttime access and allows daily screen-time limits to be set.

Meta added that it would continue cooperating with European regulators as the investigation progresses.

The case forms part of the European Union’s broader efforts to hold major technology companies accountable for platform designs that may negatively affect users’ mental health and digital wellbeing.

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The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the bloc’s highest court, on Thursday upheld the penalty, bringing to an end an eight-year legal battle between Google and European regulators.

The European Commission originally fined Google €4.34 billion in 2018 after concluding that the company abused Android’s dominant market position by requiring smartphone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search, Chrome and the Google Play Store on Android devices while restricting the use of rival Android operating systems.

In 2022, the EU General Court reduced the penalty to €4.1 billion but upheld the Commission’s findings that Google had engaged in anti-competitive conduct.

Google and its parent company, Alphabet, subsequently appealed the decision to the CJEU.

Dismissing the appeal, the court said it was confirming the penalty imposed on Google for abusing its dominant position through Android.

“The appeal brought by Google and its parent company Alphabet against the judgment of the General Court is dismissed, thereby confirming the penalty imposed for Google Search’s abuse of a dominant position in the context of the Android operating system,” the court ruled.

Responding to the judgment, Google said it had already modified its Android licensing agreements following the Commission’s original decision in 2018.

A company spokesperson said the ruling did not adequately recognise Google’s investments in keeping Android open and interoperable.

Google has accumulated nearly €11 billion in antitrust fines from the European Union over the past decade.

The company also faces additional regulatory scrutiny under the EU’s Digital Markets Act over allegations that it favours its own services in search results and app distribution.

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The interim order follows complaints from several AI companies, including Poke.com developer The Interaction Company of California, French startup Agentik and a Spanish competitor, which accused Meta of unfairly restricting access to WhatsApp’s business application programming interface (API).

The European Commission began investigating the matter in December and later accused Meta of violating competition rules. Regulators argued that Meta’s access fees were too high for competitors and potentially allowed the company to favour its own Meta AI assistant.

EU Competition Commissioner Teresa Ribera said regulators were concerned that Meta could leverage WhatsApp’s market position to strengthen its AI offerings while excluding rivals.

Under the order, Meta must restore access to WhatsApp Business APIs under the same terms that existed before October, when the company restricted access for competing AI services. The measure will remain in force until the investigation concludes or until June 2029.

Meta criticised the decision, describing it as regulatory overreach and confirming plans to appeal. The company argued that competitors already have multiple channels through which they can distribute AI services.

If found guilty of violating EU antitrust rules, Meta could face fines of up to 10 per cent of its global annual revenue.

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The change took effect on June 4 and applies to Microsoft Edge and Mozilla Firefox browsers used within the Parliament.

The move forms part of broader European efforts to reduce dependence on American technology providers and strengthen support for homegrown digital services.

The decision comes as European institutions continue advancing initiatives aimed at boosting technological sovereignty in areas such as cloud computing, semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

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