Driven by concerns over mental health, many EU member states are now proposing firm bans on social media use by minors.

Some governments are taking things further than others, and as usual, not everyone is in agreement.

Differing opinions

At the end of January, France’s National Assembly approved a bill to ban ‘harmful’ social media for children under the age of 15. But a list of platforms deemed ‘less harmful’ are to remain accessible with explicit parental approval. The bill is yet to be voted on by the Senate, but Emmanuel Macron’s aim is to have the ban in place by September.

Madrid subsequently announced, a few weeks ago, that Spain would also be banning social media for the under-16s.

Meanwhile, Luxembourg’s government supports a ban but would like to see it come at EU level. But Gianni di Paoli, a board member at the country’s National Youth Council, tells 100,7 that he does not actually believe a ban is the answer here.

Gianni di Paoli, National Youth Council of Luxembourg Board Member (in Luxembourgish):

“Young people will be confronted with the outside world anyway. So just cutting them off won't help them. We would rather see young people being part of a process by which they are provided with appropriate skills at 13 to 16 years of age and shown the way. I am a firm believer that platforms have to take responsibility, not just the young people themselves. And we have to take care to protect young people by providing them with the right tools with which to approach these platforms and giving them a better understanding of how they work.”

https://100komma7.lu/news/Sozial-Medien-Jugendrot-wenscht-sech-eng-mei-generell-Approche?pd=radio

Portugal is the latest European country to start putting plans in motion for nationwide restrictions on social media use for kids and young teenagers. In the ruling party’s bill, which passed its first parliamentary vote just last week, a minimum age of 16 is being set, although 13-to-15-year-olds could have social media accounts if their parents give them the green light.

The bill remains open to amendments proposed by civil society bodies and political parties, but the government hopes it will be in force within a few months.

Ioli Campos is a researcher and lecturer specialising in digital media at the Catholic University of Portugal. In an interview with Renascença, she highlights an overlooked, and somewhat perverse, potential consequence of this kind of social media ban.

Ioli Campos, Digital Media Specialist (in Portuguese):

“The problem with a law that prohibits something is that children will find ways around it. And since they will find ways around it, we must continue to focus on empowering them to recognise dangers, protect themselves from these dangers, and seek opportunities. And if they access social media by circumventing the law, there is almost a perversity here. What I mean is that, if they are doing something illegal when they encounter such risks, will they have the courage to ask for help, knowing that they were doing something they shouldn't have been doing in the first place?”

https://rr.pt/artigo/da-capa-a-contracapa/2026/02/17/criancas-ha-um-lado-bom-do-digital/459738/

It’s true that in Australia, the only country in the world to have actually implemented a legal ban on young people’s access to social media, reports suggest that kids there have found ways around it from the get-go.

This said, a more strictly implemented ban could have other negative consequences, as discussed in this week’s episode of The Europeans podcast. For some teenagers living in difficult circumstances or dealing with complex issues, social media can be a real lifeline. Cutting these teens off from online interaction with their peers could be detrimental.

Swimming against the tide

However, notwithstanding the valid arguments against social media bans, the tide has well and truly turned and there is a groundswell of opinion in favour of protecting the youngest members of our society from the risk of exposure to dangers that we have not even begun to fully understand.

And, of course, a ban does send a clear signal that something is potentially dangerous and needs to be handled with care. Just think of the age restriction on smoking or the ban on drink-driving.

But how does such a policy really work in practice? How can accounts stemming from a particular geographical area even be identified in order to be age-restricted? And this is not to mention the whole complex question of how a user’s age can be verified...

Greece’s minister of digital governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, tells our partners at SKAI that there are ways and means.

Dimitris Papastergiou, Greece’s Minister of Digital Governance (in Greek):

“There is no absolute solution, but there are now various technical options available. For example, platforms could be asked to identify accounts that are based in Europe or in Greece. And by that, I don’t simply mean that users have declared they are in Greece, because that can easily be changed – children often do this for fun, selecting more exotic locations. But through Greek phone numbers having been registered, since phone verification is now widely used for access control, or through social connections, like having friends who are also in Greece. In practice, there are now ways to identify Greek accounts.”

Where does the EU come in?

While numerous European countries are individually making moves in this direction, national legislation has its limits. Yes, member states can set age limits and prohibit access, but only the European Commission has the legal authority, under its Digital Services Act, to mandate and sanction platforms for failing to put in place the requisite mechanisms to block underage users.

With this in mind, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sanchéz, is spearheading the so-called ‘Coalition of the Digitally Willing’, whose remit will include coordinating and enforcing cross-border regulation of social media platforms. So far, there are said to be six European nations on board, one of which is Greece.

Minister Papastergiou explains that their aim is to create the necessary momentum to push through change at a European level.

Dimitris Papastergiou, Greece’s Minister of Digital Governance (in Greek):

“Because Europe is not known for moving quickly, a momentum has been created, with Greece taking the lead, alongside countries such as France, Spain and Denmark, to say that measures must be taken. This momentum now needs to mature into legislation.”

https://www.skai.gr/news/politics/papastergiou-orimo-to-na-paroume-metra-gia-ti-xrisi-meson-koinonikis-diktyosis-apo-paidia

So what is actually happening at a European level?

Well, last summer, the European Commission published guidelines on the protection of minors within the framework of the Digital Services Act. These guidelines recommend that platforms mitigate risks to minors by blocking access to problematic content, ensuring account confidentiality and reducing the risk of cyberbullying. And in its cyberbullying action plan published last week, the Brussels executive said that its expert panel would “pave the way to a coordinated, potentially legislative European approach to age thresholds”.

For its part, the European Parliament voted in November in favour of a minimum age of 16 for accessing social media (13 with parental consent), in a move that aims to edge us towards a harmonised EU standard.

In addition, the Commission is working on a compulsory EU Digital Identity (eID) Wallet, which it hopes to introduce by the end of the year. It believes this to be the most effective way of preventing youngsters from circumventing the ban, and of ensuring cross-border technical compliance.

To close this discussion, let’s turn to Viktoria Behar, co-founder of the OutLoud Foundation, a Bulgarian NGO set up to fight disinformation and promote media literacy. In an interview with BNR, she points out that while it is vital to protect young people, we may be overlooking another extremely vulnerable group.

Viktoria Behar, co-founder of the OutLoud Foundation (in Bulgarian):

“A study conducted by economists a few months ago shows that the most dependent group is actually older people who are excluded in one way or another from public life. They spend more time alone and this is a way – a window – for them to socialise, to have fun, to watch things... This is naturally also a way in for a lot of false information – misinformation and who knows what else.”

That is certainly food for thought.