In December 2025, Australia became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, a move that has reverberated across Europe. Several EU member states—including France, Greece, Spain, and Denmark—are now weighing similar restrictions, and the European Commission has signaled it may propose a bloc-wide ban as early as this summer.
Speaking at the European Summit on Artificial Intelligence and Children in Copenhagen, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “We are witnessing the lightning speed at which technology is advancing – and how it penetrates every corner of childhood and adolescence. And the discussions about a minimum age for social media can no longer be ignored.”
Experts Divided on Effectiveness
The proposed ban has split expert opinion. Theo Compernolle, a neuropsychiatrist and member of the supervisory board of the Belgian association Kids Unplugged, strongly supports the measure. “If you’re three hours involved with your phone, just swiping, scrolling, you don’t learn anything,” he told Euronews. He argues that social media displaces healthier activities like sports and face-to-face friendships, and exposes children to harmful content. “It’s like alcohol or smoking. It’s not a very good thing to do for adults, but there we also have age limits,” he added.
Giovanna Mascheroni, a sociologist and vice coordinator of the EU Kids Online research network, agrees on the negative effects but doubts a ban is the answer. She points to a March 2026 Australian government study showing that age verification has largely failed: despite an overall drop in children’s accounts, around 7 in 10 under-16s remain on major platforms. Worse, banned children are migrating to less regulated spaces like ChatGPT. “This is problematic. We know that these chatbots are designed to be persuasive and psychophantic by design, which means that we are inclined to trust them not because of what they say is true, but because of the way they mimic human empathic conversation,” Mascheroni warned.
Instead of banning children from social media, Mascheroni argues that platforms should be held accountable: “We should ban social media from accessing children unless they comply with some safety, privacy, and children’s rights by design.” This echoes broader debates about social media's addictive design and whether EU regulation can break the algorithm.
Teenagers Offer Mixed Views
Among teenagers, opinions vary. Pia and Vittoria, two Italian teens, see potential in restrictions but think the proposed age limits of 15 or 16 are too high. “I think the age group for which social media use should be restricted should be a bit lower, perhaps 13 or 14. Because I think it’s a stage of life when it’s very important to socialise with others in a non-virtual way,” Vittoria said. Pia agreed: “They should put a little lower age limit, like 14 years old, because it seems to me that from 14 years old we are already more responsible, more mature, we also have learned how to handle ourselves in terms of technology.”
Others, like Lena and Marine, support the ban due to harmful content. Marine, a French teenager, noted: “Teenagers under 15 or 16 are very focused on how their bodies look and on social media you see girls much older than us who eat very little or a high-protein diet, who do loads of sport, but they don’t necessarily show the other side of the story.” Lena added: “I overall agree with the ban on social media for under-15s because at that age you’re not really mature enough to use those kinds of platforms.”
The debate comes as the EU also grapples with broader budget priorities, including defence spending and cuts to farming and regional funds. Whether a social media ban becomes part of that agenda remains to be seen, but von der Leyen’s comments in Copenhagen suggest the Commission is ready to act.
