Different countries consider a range of social media bans

Meta is facing fresh scrutiny in Europe after the European Commission issued a preliminary finding this week alleging the company failed to stop children under 13 from using Instagram and Facebook.

According to the commission, weaknesses in Meta’s systems amount to a breach of the Digital Services Act (DSA).

It said the safeguards in place did not sufficiently stop children under 13 from getting onto the services, or quickly detect and remove those who had already managed to sign up.

Meta said it does not accept the preliminary findings.

The commission’s move has again sharpened attention on social media bans and the patchwork of age-limit proposals now being weighed by governments worldwide.

Australia

The push began in Australia.

The first social media ban in the world for under 16s took effect there in December last year.

Under the law, platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube had to block underage users or risk fines of Aus$49.5 million (€28 million) if they did not take “reasonable steps” to comply.

In March, Australia’s eSafety Commission said platforms had blocked about five million social media accounts under the age rules, but warned there were still “major gaps” in how technology companies were following the law.

The commission said the platforms were “failing to obey” the rules and concluded that a “substantial proportion of Australian children” were still using banned social media apps.

Watch: Australia ‘taking back control’ from tech giants with social media ban

Reports remain widespread that children are finding ways to bypass the age-check systems being used by platforms.

In its report, the eSafety Commission said social media companies were allowing under 16s to make repeated age-verification attempts in order “to ultimately obtain a 16+ outcome”.

“Australia’s world-leading social media laws are not failing. But big tech is failing to obey the laws,” Communications Minister Anika Wells said in March.

“Australia will not let the social media giants take us for mugs,” she added.

Even with the Australian model proving imperfect, governments elsewhere are looking to introduce similar restrictions.

At present, about 14 European countries are considering some form of age limit.

France

France is among the countries at the forefront of that effort in Europe.

In January, the lower house National Assembly approved a law banning social media for under 15s, but political differences have since emerged over exactly how it should be put into effect.

The right-leaning Senate passed the bill in March, but added a number of conditions and amendments, including a proposal to divide platforms into a two-tier system.

France had aimed to introduce the ban by September, but those disagreements are feared to have pushed implementation off course.

Spain

Spain set out plans in February for a social media ban covering under 16s.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the proposal was intended to shield children from the “digital Wild West”.

“Today, our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone,” Mr Sánchez said, calling social media a place of “addiction, abuse, pornography, manipulation and violence”.

Pedro Sánchez said measures in Spain would protect children from the ‘digital Wild West’

The proposed rules would also make technology company executives accountable for “illegal or harmful content” on their platforms.

But the Spanish plan drew criticism at the time because it offered few details on how the ban would operate in practice or how authorities would enforce it.

Austria

Austria has put forward one of the lower proposed age thresholds.

In March, its government announced plans to ban social media access for children up to the age of 14.

At the time, Austrian Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler said the three parties in the governing coalition had not reached agreement on the verification method that would be used.

A draft bill is expected to be ready by the end of June.

Norway

Just last week, Norway became the latest European country to announce a social media ban for under 16s, with legislation expected before the end of the year.

The government said technology companies would be made responsible for verifying the ages of young users.

“We are introducing this legislation because we want a childhood where children get to be children,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a statement.

“Play, friendships and everyday life must not be taken over by algorithms and screens.”

The bill is expected to be introduced in the Norwegian parliament by the end of the year.

Ireland

In Ireland, the Government is developing a digital wallet designed to verify a user’s age through their PPS number.

The Department of Public Expenditure is overseeing the roll-out.

It recently said an early version of the wallet has been technically developed and is ready to be tested with the Irish public, who will be invited to give feedback on its design and features.

Last month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU’s age-verification app for online platforms is technically ready and will soon become available.

Ms von der Leyen named Ireland as one of the member states that are “frontrunners” and “making great progress”, alongside France, Denmark, Greece, Italy, Spain and Cyprus.

“They are planning to integrate the app into their national wallets,” she said.

Ursula von der Leyen described Ireland as a ‘frontrunner’ in planned implementation of an age verification app

The Department of Public Expenditure said it has been working with the European Commission to ensure the Irish digital wallet is aligned and interoperable with the EU age-verification app.

“The EU age verification feature will work as a seamless feature within the digital wallet, which will be part of the public pilot test being launched,” a spokesperson said.

Privacy campaigners in Ireland have raised concerns about the proposed use of PPS numbers.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and Digital Rights Ireland (DRI) have called such a step a disproportionate response that strays into authoritarian territory.

They have warned about the risks of requiring people to hand over sensitive personal data in order to access the internet.

Minister for Communications Patrick O’Donovan has insisted that the information would not be stored by online platforms, but by a third party.

He has also previously said that no right should override the right of a child to be protected online.

Other European countries

In February, Germany’s ruling conservatives passed a motion calling for a social media ban for under 14s and stricter digital verification checks for teenagers.

However, because media regulation sits at state level under the country’s federal system, agreement will still be needed on a consistent set of national rules.

Denmark, Italy and Portugal are all examining legislation or holding formal consultations on age limits.

Consultations are also continuing in the UK, but last month MPs voted for the third time against a social media ban for under 16s.

In April, Greece said it will ban under 15s from social media from January 2027.

Slovenia is drafting legislation that would bar children under 15 from using social media.

Poland’s ruling party said in February that it is preparing new legislation to ban social media for children under 15 and make platforms responsible for age verification.

US court cases

In March, a California jury found Meta and Google liable for designing platforms that are addictive.

The case centred on a 20-year-old woman identified in court by her first name, Kaley.

She said she became addicted at a young age to Google’s YouTube and Meta’s Instagram, and that the addiction damaged her mental health.

The jury found that Google and Meta had been negligent in the design of their apps and had failed to warn users about the risks.

Both companies said they disagreed with the verdict and are appealing.

Snapchat and TikTok were also defendants in the case, but both settled before the trial began.

The Los Angeles verdict came one day after a jury in New Mexico found Meta liable for misleading users about how safe its platforms were for children.

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The company was ordered to pay $375 million, though Meta has said it will appeal.

Meta, Google, Snapchat and TikTok are facing thousands of lawsuits in US courts alleging that the design of their platforms has harmed the mental health of teenagers and young people.

The verdicts in California and New Mexico were widely viewed as landmark decisions.

Until now, social media companies had largely been shielded by a legal defence that let them argue they were not responsible for material posted on their sites.

These recent cases, however, focused on how the platforms were built rather than on the content users posted to them.

European regulators, too, have begun to zero in on the internal design of social media apps.

In February, the European Commission accused TikTok of building an “addictive design” into its app that could harm the physical and mental wellbeing of minors and vulnerable adults.

TikTok rejected the findings and has said it will challenge them.

One week off social media: Would an Australia-style ban work here?

Are bans the answer?

Many campaigners argue that banning children is not the solution and that social media companies should instead be required to make their platforms safer.

Alex Cooney, CEO of online safety charity CyberSafeKids, has also raised concerns about the different approaches being taken across countries.

“We’re supposed to be working under harmonisation rules, so if there is going to be a minimum age, it should be a clear minimum age across Europe that is the same,” Ms Cooney said.

“That is not happening. We’ve heard 14, 15, and 16, touted in different countries.

“Some countries have moved ahead already to put that legislation in place.”

She said the current landscape is confusing and is not delivering the reforms that are needed.

“It is the design of the platforms that is the problem. Children and young people are saying don’t ban us, ban the bad features.

“I do think we need to listen to that and really look at the business model, the problems that it poses to young people, and change it,” she said.

Whether it is breaches of the rules in Australia, political wrangling in France or privacy concerns in Ireland, age verification is proving complex and hard to enforce.

Rather than banning children from platforms outright, banning toxic algorithms and addictive design features may prove a far more effective way to make social media safer for everyone.