Days after France’s lower house approved a bill to bar under-15s from social media, Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez vowed to protect children “from the digital Wild West” by proposing a ban for those under 16. Officials and experts cite hours of scrolling through harmful content that they say is rewiring young brains and contributing to anxiety and other health problems.
Why focus on minors? Paul O. Richter, an affiliate fellow at Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, says the emphasis reflects children’s increased vulnerability during cognitive development and points to research linking social media to mental health issues. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has also supported an EU-wide age limit, comparable to Australia’s new law that sets 16 as a threshold.
Which countries are considering restrictions?
– France: A bill banning under-15s has passed one chamber and now faces the upper house.
– Spain: The Council of Ministers is expected to approve a ban for under-16s and add it to a draft bill in parliament; Sánchez warned children face addiction, abuse, pornography, manipulation and violence online.
– Denmark: A late-2025 multiparty agreement calls for banning access to some platforms to protect young people; a law has not yet come into force.
– Italy: A parliamentary bill would restrict under-15s and introduce rules for child influencers.
– Greece: A senior official told Reuters the country is “very close” to a similar ban.
– Portugal: Proposed legislation would require parental consent for under-16s to use social media.
– Austria: Contemplating measures.
– United Kingdom: Conducting a consultation process.
– European Parliament: In November, MEPs recommended a Europe-wide minimum age of 16, with the option for 13–16-year-olds to access platforms with parental consent.
Age verification and the EU Digital ID
One enforcement idea is an EU-wide digital ID that would verify whether a user meets an age threshold without revealing personal details such as birth date, name or address. Richter said such an approach could enable age limits while protecting private data.
Critics, however, question how verification would work and whether personal information would be safe. Marc Damie, spokesperson for youth-led digital rights group ctrl+alt+reclaim, warned verification systems remain unclear and argued bans risk being symbolic rather than effective solutions.
Will bans address the root causes?
Damie and other critics say age bans alone will not fix structural problems built into platforms—features like autoplay and infinite scrolling are engineered to maximize engagement and can foster anxiety and addictive patterns. “Addiction doesn’t stop at 15 or 16,” Damie said, challenging the utility of a simple cutoff.
Richter acknowledged research gaps that complicate choosing an optimal age and noted some harms—such as damaging social comparisons—disproportionately affect adolescent girls, which could support higher age thresholds.
The EU’s role and the Digital Services Act
The EU has supported setting a digital age of majority but has also cautioned member states not to undermine the Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA requires platforms to mitigate systemic risks from algorithms and to protect minors. Thomas Régnier, a Commission tech spokesperson, said the DSA and the Commission are the appropriate authorities to impose extra obligations on very large platforms.
Richter said frustration with what many see as weak enforcement of EU rules on large, largely US-based tech companies is driving interest in national measures. The DSA calls for algorithmic changes and data-sharing with researchers, but Richter said these changes have not yet been implemented meaningfully, helping fuel support for harder national actions, including bans.
Industry reactions and political pushback
The debate has provoked sharp responses from tech figures. After Sánchez announced plans for a children’s ban, Elon Musk, owner of platform X, called the prime minister “a tyrant and traitor to the people of Spain,” framing regulatory efforts as threats to online free speech.
Calls for European alternatives
Some advocates urge investment in European social platforms built to align with EU rules and values. “We are a hostage of big US companies,” Damie said, pressing for joint European investment in alternatives more likely to comply with EU regulations.
With countries moving at different speeds and the EU pushing rules targeting platform design and accountability, the coming years will test whether bans, stronger regulation, or a mix of approaches can reduce online harms to children while balancing privacy, enforceability and platforms’ commercial incentives.