Social Media Bans for Children Spread Across 14 Countries
Social media bans for children are expanding worldwide, with governments targeting under-15s and under-16s amid safety and privacy concerns.
Social Media Bans for Children Spread Across 14 Countries
Governments are moving rapidly to restrict social media access for children and teenagers. Australia has already implemented a ban for users under 16, while France has now passed legislation targeting children under 15. At least a dozen other countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Greece, Indonesia and Malaysia, are pursuing similar restrictions or preparing new laws. The push reflects growing concern about cyberbullying, addictive platform design, mental health problems, harmful content and online predators. But the expanding movement is also creating a difficult policy problem: governments want to protect children online without forcing families and platforms into intrusive age-verification systems that could create new privacy risks. What is happening with social media bans for children? The most important development is the growing number of governments choosing age-based restrictions rather than relying solely on parental controls or platform safety policies. Austral…
