Austria’s government announced plans to ban social media use for children under 14, joining a growing number of countries imposing restrictions for young users.
“Today is a good day for children in our country,” Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler said at a news conference, adding that the risks of social media have been “ignored for far too long.” “We will no longer stand by as these platforms make our children addicted and, in many cases, ill,” he said, and warned that social media exposes adolescents to “unrealistic beauty ideals, glorification of violence, misinformation, and manipulation.”
The three-party centrist coalition — comprising the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP), the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), and the liberal NEOS party — plans to present a draft law by the end of June. Alexander Pröll, a digitalization official in Chancellor Christian Stocker’s office, said “technically modern methods” will be used to verify users’ ages while respecting privacy, though details of the implementation remain to be finalised.
Babler said there will not be a list of banned platforms. Instead, the age restriction is intended to apply broadly to platforms that rely on addictive algorithms, generate profits, and can harm children. The government also plans to introduce a new school subject to strengthen media literacy among young people.
Austria joins a growing list of countries moving to limit children’s access to social media. Australia in 2024 became the first country to block children under 16 from social media to shield them from harmful content; that law took effect in December 2025. France passed a law in January banning social media for children under 15. Other countries, including Indonesia, are also drawing up similar limits, and discussions continue at the EU level about setting age restrictions for platforms such as TikTok and Instagram.
Edited by: Sean Sinico