Switzerland’s government, the Federal Council, wants to add measures to protect children to its planned law on large online platforms and search engines. The rules would also cover AI search engines. This is a proposal, not law: parliament has not yet received or voted on a bill.
The Federal Council announced the plans on 14 October 2026, after reviewing responses to a public consultation on its draft law on communication platforms and search engines, known in German as KomPG. It said the draft had found broad support among political parties, cantons and national organisations.
What the proposal would do
According to the full German text of the announcement, the law would apply to very large communication platforms and search engines, “dazu gehören auch KI-Suchmaschinen” (“including AI search engines”). Smaller services would not be covered. The government names Google, Facebook and YouTube as examples of the platforms through which people get information.
The new youth-protection measures would:
- require these platforms and search engines to assess whether their services create or increase risks for minors, and take steps to reduce those risks
- ban them from showing minors ads based on profiling, meaning analysis of their online behaviour and personal characteristics
Platforms would also have to let users easily report all content they suspect is illegal.
What happens next
The Federal Council has asked the environment, transport, energy and communications department (DETEC) to draw up a dispatch, the formal bill sent to parliament, by June 2027, according to the German text. The English summary of the same announcement says “by the end of 2027”.
The government said it will decide separately, based on a report on two parliamentary postulates (requests for a government report), whether further youth-protection measures should be added.
What this means
- AI search is in scope. Switzerland explicitly includes AI search engines alongside traditional ones.
- Targeted ads to children would end. Profiling-based ads to minors would be banned on the largest services.
- It is years from law. The bill has not yet gone to parliament.
Sources
- Swiss Federal Council, “Kommunikationsplattformen: Bundesrat will Jugendschutz ausbauen”, 14 October 2026 (German, full text). https://www.admin.ch/de/newnsb/NMn5s24l8NjQ
- Swiss Federal Council, “Communication platforms: Federal Council wishes to strengthen youth protection”, 14 October 2026 (English summary). https://www.admin.ch/en/newnsb/NMn5s24l8NjQ
