Article 14 of the Proposed EU KIDS Act: A New Relational-Safety Layer in EU Digital Law

Theodoros Zarkos, MSc, Medical Ethicist - Social Scientist - European Social Policy and Social Rights; Independent Researcher, Kiato, Greece Photo credit: maido155, via Wikimedia Commons The European Commission’s proposal for an EU KIDS Act, published on 17 September 2026, contains a provision that is easy to misread if it is viewed in isolation. Article 14 would create specific duties for AI companions and general conversational chatbots accessible to minors. Yet the proposal does not begin from an empty legal field. Online platforms, AI systems and the processing of children’s personal data are already governed by overlapping EU rules. The legal question is therefore not whether Article 14 “regulates AI for minors” for the first time, but what kind of legal layer it adds to the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Commission’s 2025 minors Guidelines, the AI Act and the GDPR. Primary text: COM(2026) 681 final - proposed EU KIDS Act From a horizontal child-safety duty to AI-specific…