Should kids be on social media? Europe moves toward age limits

Published on 20/04/2026 - 9:00 GMT+2

Platforms similar Instagram and TikTok exposure minors to cognitive risks specified arsenic anxiety, slumber disruption, and reduced attraction spans. They besides bring risks of cyberbullying, vulnerability to harmful oregon inappropriate content, online grooming, and information privateness violations.

Greece conscionable decided to prohibition entree to societal media for children nether the property of 15, with the measurement expected to instrumentality effect from 1 January 2027 pursuing parliamentary approval. The authorities says the determination addresses rising concerns astir children’s intelligence health, surface addiction, and online safety, and would necessitate platforms to artifact underage users and perchance impact mandatory parental power systems.

It joins a increasing database of EU countries who person made akin decisions. For example, France passed a instrumentality banning societal media usage for under-15s to beryllium enforced from September 2026, and Spain projected a prohibition for under-16s successful 2026. Denmark announced plans successful 2025 to restrict entree for under-15s with parental exceptions, Austria agreed successful 2026 connected a prohibition for under-14s. Italy and Slovenia besides introduced draught laws successful 2026 targeting under-15 users.

This propulsion to support minors is fervently encouraged by EU institutions. The European Commission conscionable announced a caller property verification app to standardise the mode each online level verifies users’ ages crossed the bloc. It joins erstwhile kid extortion efforts similar the Digital Services Act (2022), the European Parliament solution (2024), and the European Commission guidelines nether the DSA (2025).