Australia became the world's first country to ban social media for children under 16 on Wednesday (December 10), blocking them from platforms including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. The ban is being closely watched by other countries considering similar age-based measures as concerns grow over the impact of social media on children's health and safety.

New South Wales

Australia has enacted a law requiring major social media platforms to block users under 16, aiming to shield young people from online bullying, harmful content, and addictive algorithms. This initiative has sparked global interest, with countries like Malaysia and Denmark planning similar bans and the European Parliament considering EU-wide restrictions.

Despite these efforts, enforcement challenges persist, as seen in Germany, Italy, and France, where parental consent is required but underage usage remains widespread. Social media companies maintain a minimum age of 13, yet official data shows many children under this age continue to access these platforms.

Will other nations follow Australia's teen social media ban?

The world is watching as Australia implements its new landmark law forcing major social media platforms to block users under 16, a measure aimed to protect them from online bullying, harmful content and addictive algorithms. Australia may be the first to act, but other nations are considering such measures. Malaysia is poised to do the same and ban social media for users under the age of 16 next year. Pending a formal vote, Denmark says it will also ban social media for those under 15, with parents allowed to give exemptions for their children at 13. In Germany, Italy and France, parents have to provide consent for children, from 13, 14 and 15 years old respectively, to use social media. But in reality, these European laws have been hard to enforce. At the same time, students in France have questioned the benefits of the Australian ban, including a medical student who gave her name as Emma. We're also used to social media from the age of 12, that I don't see for years we can be restrained from using at least Instagram or things like that. And 18-year-old Antoine Maziere. It's always better to respect people's freedom, and I think education from the parents should be the way to solve this problem, instead of having a government taking measures on the entirety of the population. The European Parliament supports an EU social media ban for children under 16, without parent or consent, and an outright ban for those under 13. EU lawmaker Christelle Schaldemusch says they could learn a lot from Australia's ban. How you designate platforms that should be a part of it, that's, for instance, something we could learn. I think we could also learn from how we protect kids' data, but also the part of the fact that some will bypass the ban. What do the Australians do in this respect? How can we work with the tech giants so they also have an obligation? Some places are looking at other options, such as Britain enforcing an online safety act to block minors from accessing harmful content. China's cyberspace regulator has what is called a Miner Mode programme that requires device-level restrictions and app-specific rules to restrict screen time depending on age. The US's Children Online Privacy Protection Act focuses on preventing the collection of personal data from children under 13. For now, social media platforms such as TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat say users have to be at least 13 to sign up. But official data from several European countries shows huge amounts of children under 13 have social media accounts.

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Washington

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Oslo

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Kyiv

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Bangkok

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Minneapolis

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Canberra

Australia's social media ban takes effect for kids under 16

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Pennsylvania

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Downing Street

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Breakdown