EU proposes Kids Act banning emotional chatbots for minors under 18
European Commission unveils sweeping rules to prevent children from forming dependencies on AI companions, targeting ChatGPT, Character.ai, and Snapchat's My AI.
What to know
- The EU Kids Act bans chatbots from simulating emotions or relationships with anyone under 18 and requires guardian supervision for children under 13.
- Platforms must build child-safety protections or face fines up to 6% of global turnover; chatbots cannot retain memory across conversations or be automatically promoted to minors.
- Around half of Europeans aged 11–25 have discussed intimate matters with AI chatbots; the EU cites concerns about emotional dependencies, dangerous advice, and deepfakes.
- A broader Digital Fairness Act is expected later in 2026 to address addictive AI design features across all user groups.
“We do not have to accept that girls have their photos used for AI-generated sexualised images … Europe has the power to act.”
Ursula von der Leyen, EU Commission President · Wired ↗
European Commission Proposer of legislation
Ursula von der Leyen EU Commission PresidentSimeon de Brouwer Policy adviser, European Digital Rights
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
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Digital rights advocate supports chatbot rules but calls for broader protection
Simeon de Brouwer of European Digital Rights welcomed the chatbot restrictions but argued the protections should extend beyond minors to all users vulnerable to addictive AI design.
“it doesn't make sense to restrict them to young people only. Don't we all deserve to be protected from AIs designed to be addictive?”
— Simeon de Brouwer -
"The EU plans to ban chatbots from simulating emotions or interpersonal relationships in interactions with anyone under the age of 18 as the bloc tries to stop children from developing emotional dependencies on the technology." If the goal and function of the regulation is to stop chatbots from being manipulative for the sake of extending the…
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There’s tons of groomers and other perverts hounding online games. Ask any woman who ever went to a voice chat group. Roblox and Minecraft have serious issues with groomers and barely legal gambling.
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background
EU restricts automatic chatbot promotion on platforms and pinning practices — Platforms are prohibited from automatically activating, encouraging, or pinning AI chatbots at the top of minors' contact lists—a practice Snapchat had employed with its My AI feature.
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background
EU Kids Act bans emotion-simulating chatbots and cross-conversation memory — The proposal prohibits chatbots from simulating emotions or interpersonal relationships with minors and forbids retaining memory across separate conversations to prevent accumulation of sensitive data and reinforcement of harmful patterns.
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EU Commission proposes Kids Act restricting minor-facing chatbots — The European Commission unveiled the EU Kids Act on Thursday, proposing sweeping restrictions on chatbots' interactions with minors under 18. Children under 13 would require guardian supervision to access chatbots, and platforms must implement child-safety protections or face fines up to 6% of worldwide turnover.