Australia passed legislation this week that would ban the use of social media for children under the age of 16. While Australia's ban certainly is one of the world's toughest regulations targeting social media, other countries have also moved to pass their own bills to regulate the use of these platforms among children.
Australia's new law forces tech giants such as Facebook and Instagram to develop a method that would prevent children under 16 from creating profiles and stop them from logging into existing accounts. Tech companies that fail to adhere to the said ban will be fined up to $33 million.
The Australian government is expected to conduct a trial of methods to enforce the blanket ban in January 2025, with the full ban taking effect in a year.
Prior to Australia's passing of the ban, other countries have also hinted at plans to regulate social media use among young children and adolescents.
Belgium
In 2018, the Belgian government passed a law that required children to be at least 13 years old to create their personal social media account without the need to get permission from their parents or guardians.
Britain
Britain has said it is unlikely to impose a blanket ban like Australia's in the meantime. However, the British government has already launched a study to explore how smartphones and social media impact children. It has also passed the Online Safety Act, which requires domestic and international providers of online services, including social media, to conduct risk assessments to identify and mitigate risks associated with illegal content.
France
In 2023, the French government passed a bill that require social media platforms to obtain parental consent for children under the age of 15 when they are creating accounts.
In April of this year, France also floated ideas of banning the use of cell phones for children under 11 and smartphones for children under 13. That ban is currently being tested in about 50,000 middle schoolers across the country.
Germany
Children between the ages of 13 and 16 are not allowed to use social media if they do not have the consent of their parents.
Italy
Children under the age of 14 in Italy are required to obtain parental consent when creating a social media account.
