The Netherlands has launched an online children’s rights strategy covering safer digital services, social media age limits, age assurance, school phone rules and support for parents and children.
The Dutch government has launched a new online children’s rights strategy bringing together measures to make digital services safer for children, strengthen age protections, support parents and involve children more directly in policymaking. The strategy was published on 5 October 2026 and is being implemented across several ministries.
A central part of the strategy is the government’s support for a European minimum age for social media. The Netherlands and Spain have jointly proposed an EU-wide approach with as few national exceptions as possible, alongside privacy-friendly age verification and a framework requiring platforms to show that their services are safe for children.
The strategy also backs stricter safety-by-design requirements for digital services and refers to the proposed EU KIDS Act. The Dutch government is carrying out Children’s Rights Impact Assessments on services including YouTube, Roblox, Fortnite, ChatGPT, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok to examine their effects on children’s wellbeing.
Schools are also included in the broader approach. The government wants existing mobile-phone restrictions to apply across all schools through the “At Home or in the Locker” arrangement from January 2027, while continuing initiatives that give parents practical guidance on children’s screen and smartphone use.
Why does it matter?
The strategy is being developed as the EU KIDS Act enters debate, making alignment between Dutch and EU approaches especially relevant. The Netherlands is already advocating a minimum social media age of 15, which matches the KIDS Act’s threshold for independent accounts, and is preparing a formal response to the proposal. Its Children’s Rights Impact Assessments of major platforms and AI services could also provide practical evidence for wider EU discussions on how to determine whether digital services are genuinely safe and appropriate for children.
