EU Kids Act Could Require Gamers to Prove Their Age Before Playing Certain Games
The EU Kids Act will be presented before the European Parliament on Thursday, and if passed, will have a meaningful impact on gamers of all ages if they want access to certain kinds of games.
The EU Kids Act is proposed legislation meant to keep children from being harmed online. It’s been discussed for more than a year, and is expected to introduce age limits for accessing online platforms like social media sites, artificial intelligence tools, and certain gaming platforms.
Documents obtained by Euractiv reportedly state that the act “will oblige providers of social media services and video-sharing platforms to perform age verification when a user opens a new account.”
The outlet added that, according to this document, these age verification requirements will extend to other services like AI chat bots and even “online games that are risky to minors.” It is not expected to impact industrial AI, AI office products, or educational online services.
This is the latest big age verification news to arise after PlayStation started rolling out age verification checks back in April across Ireland and the UK in order for players to access certain network features like voice chatting, messaging, and streaming. Users can verify their age via facial scan, mobile number, or their ID, though these methods can vary depending upon users’ specific "country or region."
And earlier this month, Australia implemented proof-of-age verification on Steam in order for players to access games rated R18+ — but unlike PlayStation, it will only accept Australian credit cards, which could lead to some difficulties for adult players in the region who don’t have one.
“Valve is required by the Age-Restricted Material App Distribution Services Code to verify that you are 18 or older before accessing mature content. If you wish to do so, please add a valid Australian credit card to your account and afterwards update the Mature Content Preferences,” a Steam message tells Australian players.
Thus far, America does not have Federal-level legislation requiring that online platforms enact age-verification checks, though some laws have been implemented at the state level for this purpose. It’s a hot-button issue at the heart of online privacy debates and a major talking point for child safety advocates. In fact, the discussion has become so fierce that Discord even paused its plans to roll out global age verification after revealing that hackers had managed to infiltrate its systems and access 70,000 images of users’ government IDs.