UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — How EU plans to keep children under 15 away from social media

Q1. The European Union's 2026 plan to bar children below 13 from independently using social media, online games and chatbots was first announced from which one of the following platforms?

  • A. The annual State of the Union address delivered by the President of the European Council at Brussels
  • B. A plenary declaration adopted by the European Parliament at its administrative seat in Luxembourg
  • C. The annual State of the European Union address delivered by the President of the European Commission at Strasbourg
  • D. A joint political resolution of the Council of the European Union adopted under its rotating six-month presidency

Q2. Under the EU's existing platform-accountability regulation on which the new child-safety proposal builds, the stricter obligations imposed on the biggest platforms are supervised directly by which one of the following?

  • A. The European Data Protection Board
  • B. The European Commission
  • C. The Council of the European Union
  • D. The European Court of Auditors

Q3. With reference to the EU KIDS Act proposal published by the European Commission in September 2026, consider the following: 1. Its scope covers social media services, video-sharing platforms, online games and AI companion chatbots. 2. It allows platforms to rely exclusively on a user's self-declaration of age, which the Commission accepts as sufficient proof. 3. It shifts the burden of proof, requiring platforms to demonstrate that their services are safe for children rather than requiring regulators to prove harm. 4. It requires platforms to switch off push notifications directed at children during their sleep hours. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. Its scope covers social media services, video-sharing platforms, online games and AI companion chatbots.
  2. It allows platforms to rely exclusively on a user's self-declaration of age, which the Commission accepts as sufficient proof.
  3. It shifts the burden of proof, requiring platforms to demonstrate that their services are safe for children rather than requiring regulators to prove harm.
  4. It requires platforms to switch off push notifications directed at children during their sleep hours.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1, 3 and 4
  • C. 2 and 4 only
  • D. 1 and 2 only

Q4. The child-safety proposal tabled by the European Commission in September 2026 can become binding law only after which one of the following decisive steps?

  • A. Ratification of the text by the national parliaments of every member state within twenty-four months of its publication
  • B. A unanimous vote in the European Council followed by a binding advisory opinion from the Court of Justice of the EU
  • C. Endorsement by the College of Commissioners followed by a confirmatory referendum held in each member state
  • D. Agreement on a joint text by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, followed by publication in the Official Journal

Q5. With reference to the age-verification solution developed at the level of the European Union, consider the following: 1. It is being released as an open-source application that member states may adapt to their own requirements. 2. At the time of setup it requires a user to present a legal identity document such as a passport. 3. It has been designed to run only on smartphones and is not usable on tablets or personal computers. 4. Services already covered by EU child-protection obligations, such as sites hosting pornography, may be required to deploy it or a tool of comparable accuracy. Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. It is being released as an open-source application that member states may adapt to their own requirements.
  2. At the time of setup it requires a user to present a legal identity document such as a passport.
  3. It has been designed to run only on smartphones and is not usable on tablets or personal computers.
  4. Services already covered by EU child-protection obligations, such as sites hosting pornography, may be required to deploy it or a tool of comparable accuracy.
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 2 and 3
  • C. 1, 2 and 4
  • D. 1, 3 and 4

Q6. Which one of the following EU instruments, of which every member state must make at least one certified version available to its residents, is meant to let a user store and selectively share verified credentials such as identity data and driving licences?

  • A. The Schengen Information System
  • B. The European Digital Identity Wallet
  • C. The Internal Market Information System
  • D. The European Electronic Toll Service

Q7. Which one of the following correctly describes where enforcement authority over the largest online platforms lies under the EU's Digital Services Act?

  • A. The European Data Protection Board is the sole enforcer and may impose fines of up to 4 per cent of a firm's global annual turnover
  • B. Courts in the member state where a platform is established hold exclusive power, with penalties capped at 2 per cent of its EU turnover
  • C. The European Commission supervises the largest platforms directly and may impose fines of up to 6 per cent of global annual turnover
  • D. The internal market committee of the European Parliament is the only body that may penalise or suspend a platform across the Union

Q8. Under the EU's Digital Services Act, a service attracts the designation reserved for the biggest platforms once its average monthly users in the European Union reach at least how many?

  • A. 5 million
  • B. 25 million
  • C. 100 million
  • D. 45 million

Q9. Consider the following statements comparing the EU institutions involved in making a law such as the proposed child-safety regulation: 1. The European Commission ordinarily holds the sole right to initiate EU legislation, whereas the European Parliament and the Council of the EU act as co-legislators on an equal footing. 2. Members of the European Parliament are nominated by the national parliaments of the member states, whereas the Council of the EU is composed of ministers of member state governments. 3. The presidency of the Council of the EU rotates among member states every six months, whereas the European Commission is composed of one member drawn from each member state. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The European Commission ordinarily holds the sole right to initiate EU legislation, whereas the European Parliament and the Council of the EU act as co-legislators on an equal footing.
  2. Members of the European Parliament are nominated by the national parliaments of the member states, whereas the Council of the EU is composed of ministers of member state governments.
  3. The presidency of the Council of the EU rotates among member states every six months, whereas the European Commission is composed of one member drawn from each member state.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q10. The directly elected chamber that must approve the EU's proposed child-safety regulation has a membership falling within which one of the following ranges?

  • A. Between 400 and 450
  • B. Between 700 and 750
  • C. Between 550 and 600
  • D. More than 900

Q11. Australia's prohibition, operative from 10 December 2025, on persons below 16 years holding accounts on age-restricted platforms derives its legal force from which one of the following?

  • A. The Online Safety Act 2021, as given effect through the Basic Online Safety Expectations amended in 2024
  • B. The Enhancing Online Safety for Children Act 2015, which established the office of the eSafety Commissioner
  • C. The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024
  • D. The Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024, which created a statutory tort of serious invasion of privacy

Q12. Consider the following statements about how United Nations bodies have positioned themselves relative to age-based restrictions of the kind the European Union is proposing: 1. The UN human rights office has held that blocking children from social media is no substitute for making the platforms themselves safe, and has issued a ten-point framework for governments and companies. 2. UNICEF has endorsed blanket age-based bans as sufficient by themselves to keep children safe online, provided the age verification used is certified. 3. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has characterised harms such as addictive design features and privacy violations as the outcome of deliberate commercial choices rather than as inevitable. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The UN human rights office has held that blocking children from social media is no substitute for making the platforms themselves safe, and has issued a ten-point framework for governments and companies.
  2. UNICEF has endorsed blanket age-based bans as sufficient by themselves to keep children safe online, provided the age verification used is certified.
  3. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has characterised harms such as addictive design features and privacy violations as the outcome of deliberate commercial choices rather than as inevitable.
  • A. 1 and 3 only
  • B. 2 only
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3