2025 Predictions

As we look toward 2025, the co-founders at k-ID share their insights on the pivotal changes shaping the digital landscape for kids and teens. With regulatory momentum accelerating, societal expectations evolving, and technology like AI transforming online interactions, this year promises to be a defining moment for creating safer, age-appropriate digital experiences. From the convergence of regulations and social shifts to the rise of parental tools and digital identity frameworks, our founders explore what the future holds for kids, teens, and families navigating the online world.

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Kieran Donovan, CEO

"What we'll really see over the next 12 months is a convergence around the regulatory and the social change that I think has been building up for the past decade. We've had a generation that has moved through social media and is now on the other side of that, and we're seeing more of the online environment be something that audiences younger than ever are engaging with. So now, we're going to see  new age limits for online services, new regulations around how certain functions are expected to operate, particularly around social interactions, but also in terms of what it means to build your digital identity online, and what that means for your future as well.” 

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Timothy Ma, Chief Legal Officer

"As we have seen over the past few years, more regulations are coming out from various places in the world, and we should expect to see that trend continue. There will also be more enforcement actions. More importantly, what we've seen on the front page news every day is that kids, teens, parents, and society in general have an expectation that all these online services and social media companies will implement measures to help protect our younger generation. I’d expect technology like k-ID, which helps companies comply with regulations, to become more prominent.”

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Julian Corbett, Chief Growth Officer

"2025 is going to be a key moment, an inflection point in how the internet is going to be experienced by the next generation. Over the last few years we have seen a massive acceleration on the regulatory front, and more enforcement taking place.  So now, and with the advent of AI even more so, the question becomes at what point does civil society, parents, children step up and say, we want a better internet. We want an internet that is one where we can have the full experience but also where we are safe, where we are protected, where we are not subjected to some of the harms and some of the issues that have, sadly, been all too evident over the last decade. And so therefore the need for compliance isn't around ticking boxes in terms of making the internet safer to satisfy a regulator. It is about parents knowing that their children can have a safe experience, and it is about children experiencing an internet in a manner that truly gives them all of the wonders that one can have online, whether it be in games, education or commerce, and doing so in a manner that is respectful and most importantly, age-appropriate."

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Jeff Wu, Chief People and Safety Officer

“My prediction for 2025 is that more companies will prioritize creating age-appropriate experiences for their communities. We’re already seeing big moves in this direction with Meta introducing features on Meta Quest and Instagram, as well as Roblox enhancing its offerings. Additionally, there’s a growing trend of companies providing parental management tools, empowering families to tailor their children’s online experiences to align with their values. In 2025, I believe we’ll see more organizations, including smaller companies, following suit as demand from parents, governments and communities intensifies. This shift will likely lead to widespread adoption of these features, making age-appropriate design a standard expectation in the digital landscape.”