In December 2025, Australia became the first country in the world to ban children under 16 from social media. Since then, governments across Europe and Asia have passed similar laws amid growing evidence that these platforms’ addictive features, algorithmic recommendations and, at times, harmful and violent content may be eroding the mental health of today’s youth.
Countries That Want to Ban Social Media for Children
The following countries have either imposed or are considering restrictions children’s access to social media:
- Austria
- Denmark
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Malaysia
- Norway
- Portugal
- Slovenia
- Spain
- United Kingdom
Most social media platforms already require users to be at least 13 years old, but many minors are still able to create profiles by simply lying about their age. And numerous studies have found that even older teens are susceptible to the harms of social media. Lawmakers and advocates who support social media bans for children say these sites incorporate addictive features like unlimited scrolling and algorithmic recommendations, which lead to mental health problems. They also claim social media exposes minors to cyberbullying, sexual exploitation and content that promotes violence, eating disorders and other harmful behaviors.
Social media companies have developed features to address some of these concerns. For example, Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, offers parental supervision tools in its Family Center, and minors are given Teen Accounts, which limit who can contact them and the types of content they see. However, they’ve also been working hard to block any similar regulatory efforts in the United States, as well as across the pond in Europe to stop the regulatory fever from spreading.
Nevertheless, in November, the European Parliament passed a nonbinding resolution suggesting an EU-wide social media age limit of 16 unless the minor has parental consent. And later this year, the body is expected to consider legislation called the Digital Fairness Act, which would regulate addictive design patterns, influencer marketing disclosures and personalization practices that exploit consumer vulnerabilities.
It’s not just social media companies that oppose age restrictions, though. Human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and UNICEF have said a simple age restriction is no substitute for stricter regulations and safer platform designs. And the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for civil liberties in the digital world, has argued that social media age limits undermine the “privacy, expression and participation rights” of young people.
Countries Banning Social Media for Children
Australia
As of December 2025, Australia barred social media for children under 16 years old. The ban, which was passed in 2024, includes 10 social media platforms, including YouTube and Reddit, but it does not include YouTube Kids or WhatsApp. Social media companies deactivated those users’ existing accounts, and children under 16 were blocked from creating new accounts.
Under the law, social media companies must use multiple methods, such as government IDs and face or voice recognition, to verify a user’s age instead of relying on users to self-report their age. Social media companies could be fined tens of millions of dollars for serious or repeated breaches.
Denmark
The Danish government announced in November 2025 that the countries’ political parties agreed to ban social media for children under 15. The proposal must still work its way through the parliamentary process, but it’s expected to become law as soon as mid-2026. The country’s Digital Affairs Ministry is expected to launch a “digital evidence” app to confirm users’ age.
France
France is also in the process of passing a social media ban for children under 15. The country’s National Assembly approved the measure in a 130-21 vote in late January, and it will now go to the Senate for approval. President Emmanuel Macron has called for the government to fast-track the bill’s approval so it can take effect by the start of the next school year.
Germany
A proposal to ban social media for children under 14 is gaining traction in Germany. The concept has received support from the country’s Social Democratic Party, as well as its conservative ruling party, the Christian Democratic Union, which recently approved the measure at a party conference. The CDU also supported more stringent digital verification checks for teenagers.
Greece
A senior government official in Greece told Reuters in early February that lawmakers there were “very close” to announcing a social media ban for children under the age of 15.
Malaysia
Malaysia’s communications minister announced in November that the government banned minors under the age of 16 from opening an account, and that it hopes social media platforms will comply with the decision by 2026. The country cited social media platforms’ role in cyberbullying, financial scams and child sexual abuse.
Norway
Norway has been discussing a social media ban for children under the age of 15 since 2024. In November 2025, the government announced it will present a consultation proposal for a law establishing an absolute age limit of 15 for social media platforms.
Portugal
Portugal lawmakers have given initial approval to a bill that would require parental consent for children between the ages of 13 and 16 to access social media. Tech companies are required to develop an age verification system that is compatible with a digital mobile key system that allows parents to give their consent.
Slovenia
Slovenia announced in early February that it is preparing draft legislation to ban social media for children under 16. The country’s Education Ministry will reportedly draft the legislation with input from experts in the education and technology sector.
Spain
Spain plans to ban social media for children under the age of 16, with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez saying it will protect its children from “the digital Wild West.” The legislation, which still needs parliamentary approval, would create age verification systems and make it illegal for anyone to manipulate an algorithm to amplify illegal content.
Sanchez said the government is also drafting legislation to hold social media executives responsible for hate speech on their platform, prompting Elon Musk, the CTO and executive chairman of social media platform X, to call him a “fascist totalitarian.”
UK
The United Kingdom is also considering a social media ban for children under 16. In January, the government launched a three-month consultation seeking input from parents, young people and civil society regarding various options, including what the age limit should be, how it should be enforced, data privacy measures and restrictions on addictive design features, such as infinite scrolling. Government insiders are “increasingly certain” Prime Minister Keir Starmer will support the ban, according to The Guardian.
Why Are Countries Banning Social Media for Children?
Social Media Addiction and Mental Health Issues
Mental health is one of the most-cited concerns about social media. Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face are twice as likely to develop symptoms of anxiety and depression symptoms, according to research, and the average teen uses it nearly 5 hours per day. Young social media users may feel inadequate in comparison to the seemingly perfect lives depicted by others, and addictive design features like unlimited scrolling and auto-play videos keep users logged in and disconnected from the outside world. Powerful algorithms encourage users to continue scrolling, and can sometimes expose users to violent, sexual or extremist content.
Body Dysmorphia and Eating Disorders
Nearly half of adolescents say social media makes them feel worse about their bodies. In addition to promoting unrealistic beauty standards, these platforms also allow users to alter the appearance of their face with beauty filters, sometimes leading to feelings of body dysmorphia. By promoting certain body types and facial features — both through algorithm-recommended content and in-app filters — social media has led to a rise in body image issues and eating disorders among teenagers, particularly young women.
Cyberbullying and Harassment
With social media, bullying can follow children home from school and into their electronic devices. According to the CDC, frequent social media use is associated with a higher prevalence of being bullied, feeling persistently sad or hopeless and suicide risk, as evidenced by the numerous heartbreaking stories of teens taking their own lives due to cyberbullying on social media.
Grooming and Sexual Exploitation
Sexual predators use social media as a way to locate and groom minors for sexual abuse. One of the most pervasive and troubling forms of this is sexploitation, where a predator manipulates a child into sending them an explicit image, which they then use to blackmail the child into giving them money. A number of teen suicides, particularly among teenage boys, have been linked to sexploitation specifically.
What About the United States?
U.S. lawmakers are not discussing a social media ban for children on the national level, but there have been state regulations, lawsuits and federal legislative actions that seek to mitigate the harm social media can have on children.
Federal Proposals
Despite the surge in global action, U.S. lawmakers do not seem to have much appetite to institute a social media ban for children on the federal level. The most notable law, passed in 1998, is the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which requires platforms to obtain parental consent to collect data from children under the age of 13.
The closest equivalent to a social media ban for children in the U.S., the Kids Off Social Media Act, advanced out of the Senate Commerce Committee in February 2025, but has not gone before the full Senate yet. If passed, the bill would prohibit social media companies from allowing children under the age of 13 from creating social media accounts. It would also prevent companies from using an algorithm to recommend content to children under the age of 13.
Another proposal, the Kids Online Safety Act, would require social media platforms to give minors the ability to protect their information, disable addictive product features and opt out of personalized algorithmic recommendation. It would also order online platforms to prevent and mitigate content that promotes suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse and sexual exploitation. The bill, which has been introduced and abandoned several times, gained momentum with a 91-3 Senate vote in 2024. But it has not advanced due to free speech concerns on both sides of the political spectrum.
State Laws
In lieu of federal action, states have passed dozens of laws attempting to regulate teens’ usage of social media. Almost all of these bills have been challenged or blocked by tech industry lobbyists, but some have survived.
In Florida, for example, lawmakers passed legislation banning children under the age of 14 from creating a social media account. It also required 14- and 15-year-old kids to have parental permission to use social media. The law was adopted in 2024, but due to an unsuccessful court challenge, it didn’t take effect until November 2025.
Age verification laws in Mississippi and Tennessee have also survived legal challenges, but similar measures in Utah, Ohio and other states have been blocked by court injunctions. Utah also passed a law requiring app stores to certify a user’s age and require minors to obtain parental consent before downloading an app.
In New York and California, lawmakers passed legislation prohibiting social media companies from using an algorithm to deliver content to minors without parental consent. The laws, which were adopted in 2024, banned platforms from sending notifications to minors at certain times as well.
Several states have also attempted to pass age-appropriate online design code laws that aim to protect minors with higher privacy settings, stricter data collection policies and the removal of addictive design features. Those laws have been challenged in California and Maryland, but not in other states like Nebraska and Vermont.
In Virginia, lawmakers passed legislation that would limit children younger than 16 to one hour of social media per day unless a parent consents otherwise. The law, which would require social media platforms to develop an age screening mechanism, took effect at the start of 2026. It’s currently being challenged in court, however, so its implementation could be delayed if the judge issues an injunction.
Court Cases
Potential U.S. regulations could also result from the thousands of ongoing court cases against social media companies right now, including a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general from 41 states alleging that Meta intentionally created addictive design features that harm children.
In California, a set of nine of the strongest cases will be heard in state Superior Court this year, with the first case already underway. These lawsuits claim that infinite scrolling, algorithmic recommendations and other features have led to social media addiction, which has led users to suffer from anxiety, depression, eating disorders and self-harm.
In the first case heard by the court, lawyers for the plaintiff argued that beauty filters on Instagram led a 20-year-old woman to develop body dysmorphia in her teenage years. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri argued the app is not clinically addictive, and Meta has argued the plaintiff’s mental health issues were caused by other factors in her life. In addition to monetary damages, the lawsuits also call for social media platforms to eliminate these addictive design features.
Another set of federal cases will be heard in the U.S. District Court of Northern California this summer. Those cases, brought by school districts and states, will argue that those institutions have had to carry the burden of treating youths impacted by the harms of these for-profit companies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which countries have banned social media for children?
A growing number of countries have enacted or are in the process of enacting social media bans for children. Australia was the first, banning social media for children under 16 as of December 2025. Malaysia has also banned children under 16 from opening accounts. France and Germany are in the process of passing bans for children under 15 and 14 respectively, while Denmark, Norway, and Greece are also working toward bans with a minimum age of 15. Spain, Slovenia, and the UK are all considering bans for children under 16, and Portugal has passed legislation requiring parental consent for children between 13 and 16 to access social media.
How will social media companies verify users’ ages?
Methods vary by country. Australia, for example, requires multiple verification steps such as government IDs and face or voice recognition. Portugal, on the other hand, is developing a system compatible with a digital mobile key that allows parents to give consent.
What is the U.S. doing about social media and children?
The U.S. has not pursued a federal ban, but has seen activity at the state level, with states like Florida, Virginia, New York, and California passing various restrictions. Federal proposals like the Kids Off Social Media Act and the Kids Online Safety Act have also been introduced, but they haven’t been adopted yet.
