EU Kids Act: Europe wants children better protected on social media

On 17 September the European Commission presented the EU Kids Act. The proposal sets out from what age a child may have an account of their own, and what such an account is still allowed to do.

In short: what the EU wants to change

• Under thirteen, no account of your own on social media and video platforms.
• Thirteen to fifteen, only a mini account hanging off a parent's account, with limited features and, in the current text, one hour of screen time a day.
• From fifteen, an account of your own, but the environment around it has to be safe by design.
• No personalised advertising for minors, and privacy settings on their strictest setting by default.
• Addictive design out: autoplay, endless scrolling, notifications nobody asked for.

It is a proposal, not a law. Parliament and the member states still have to negotiate it, and the age thresholds and the hour of screen time are exactly the dials that is about. So for a child who is on TikTok right now, nothing changes for the time being.

Why this matters to parents

Plenty of parents want to share photos of their children with family, but not on a public network. At the same time, the most popular apps are built around precisely the things that make that awkward: ads, algorithms and profiles anyone can find. The EU Kids Act shows which way Europe wants to go, and it is the other one. Behind the screen-time debate sit more concrete questions: who can see my child's photos, can a stranger get in touch, and what happens to those images if the child later wants to leave the app.

How Ohhi fits in

Ohhi is made for sharing photos and videos with family and a small circle, not with the whole internet. That takes away a number of the problems the proposal is aimed at.

• Only people you invite yourself can look. No public profiles, no followers.
• No ads, so no ads tailored to a child either.
• The feed is chronological. No algorithm choosing what goes on top or who gets to see your photos.
• Unlike a chat group, photos stay organised in folders and on a timeline, so family can still find them later. That is what sharing family photos without the group chat is about.
• Under sixteen an account works as a mini account: screen time, a night window without notifications, and settings a parent manages. Endless scrolling is off there.

A private place for the family

Not every family needs a social network to share photos. Sometimes you just want a place where grandparents, family and a few good friends can look along, and nobody else. That is what Ohhi is made for. How the sharing works is described in sharing photos of your kids with only the people you choose; if you want away from a public network, read alternative to Facebook. You can look for yourself, free, via the plans.