The Global Push to Keep Kids Off Social Media

The Global Phenomenon of Age-Based Social Media Bans

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Analysis: The Global Push to Keep Kids Off Social Media

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Analysis

The Global Push to Keep Kids Off Social Media

From age verification to time limits, more than 60 countries have embraced online restrictions.

October 27, 2026, 6:00 AM

!An illustration of Alexandra Sharp, World Brief newsletter writer

*An illustration of Alexandra Sharp, World Brief newsletter writer*

*Alexandra Sharp*

By **Alexandra Sharp**, the World Brief writer at *Foreign Policy*.

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*A smartphone wrapped in metal chains and secured with a golden padlock against a bright blue gradient background.*

Foreign Policy Illustration

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The European Union issued a bold declaration last month targeting one of the world’s wealthiest, most influential industries. “No social media under the age of 13. No personal account under the age of 15,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during her state of the EU address.

The plan puts the 27-nation bloc on track to join a growing number of countries enacting far-reaching bans, hourly restrictions, or other content moderation controls for young people on online platforms. More than 60 countries have imposed or are considering restrictions on minors’ social media access, according to Tech Policy Press, a nonprofit that tracks age restrictions.

The European Union issued a bold declaration last month targeting one of the world’s wealthiest, most influential industries. “No social media under the age of 13. No personal account under the age of 15,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during her state of the EU address.

The plan puts the 27-nation bloc on track to join a growing number of countries enacting far-reaching bans, hourly restrictions, or other content moderation controls for young people on online platforms. More than 60 countries have imposed or are considering restrictions on minors’ social media access, according to Tech Policy Press, a nonprofit that tracks age restrictions.

Policymakers have accused tech companies of using addictive design features, such as endless scroll and autoplay, to lure and keep minors online, while parents worry about megacorporations collecting their children’s data.

“It’s the equivalent of putting our kids in cars with no seat belts, with no airbags, and having them drive on roads with no speed limits and no traffic lights,” former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said last year in a warning to Congress about the impact of social media on children’s health.

In December 2025, Australia became the first to implement such legislation, barring children under 16 from creating social media accounts. As of October, 82 percent of Australian parents support such restrictions. This decision started a “domino effect,” said Tommaso Giardini, the associate director of the Digital Policy Alert, a nonprofit focused on online transparency.

Governments from Brazil to Malaysia to the United Arab Emirates have since adopted policies that curb minors’ access to online platforms, with Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitch, X, and YouTube among the most common targets. “Selling the idea of protecting children is very easy,” Giardini said.

Harder is deciding which strategy to pursue. Countries have generally followed three main policy approaches: the Australia model, the China model, and the India model.

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The Australia model

!Two people sitting cross-legged on a carpeted floor, holding and looking down at a tablet computer.

*Two people sitting cross-legged on a carpeted floor, holding and looking down at a tablet computer.*

Young people look at an iPad in Sydney on Dec. 7, 2025.George Chan/Getty Images

Australia’s model of social media restriction may be the most straightforward—and the most severe. Users must be age 16 or older to create a social media account, period. Parents cannot consent on behalf of their children.

“One of the virtues of age-based age-gating is that everyone knows the law,” said Terry Flew, a professor of digital communication and culture at the University of Sydney, who likened the policy to similar age-based bans on alcohol, smoking, and vaping.

Three months after Australia’s ban took effect, Indonesia implemented a similar under-16 ban, though the Southeast Asian country included one major caveat: Children under age 13 will only have access to age-approved platforms, but those between ages 13 and 15 can go on “low risk” sites with parental consent.

This model has also proved popular across Europe, where Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Spain, Turkey, and others have passed or are discussing age-based systems, each with their own conditions.

“It is more interventionist, but it feels less interventionist,” Giardini said, adding that the approach “will probably cause less skepticism than the government or some government agency going into the details of which types of children can access which types of platforms for how many minutes.”

Yet age-based restrictions have also come under criticism for being ineffective. According to an Australian government report published in March, around 7 out of 10 parents whose children were on social media prior to the ban said that they still had their accounts despite the order f