More than 40 countries now have social media bans for children in place, in progress, or under active consideration. Australia led the way in December 2025 with a nationwide ban for under-16s. Since then, France, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Greece, and the UK have all advanced legislation of their own, and US states from Florida to Massachusetts are passing state-level restrictions.

This page tracks every country and US state that has passed, proposed, or is actively considering restrictions on children’s social media use. The tracker is updated weekly.

The live tracker

The tracker below shows the current status of children’s social media restrictions worldwide. Each entry is colour-coded: enforced (the law is active and platforms must comply), passed (legislation has been approved but enforcement has not yet begun), in progress (a bill is moving through parliament or congress), and proposed (a government has announced plans but no bill has been introduced). Select any country to see the specific age threshold, what type of restriction applies, and when it is expected to take effect.

Why this is happening now

For years, the minimum age for most social media platforms was 13, set not by child development research but by a US privacy law from 1998 called COPPA. Platforms relied on children entering their own birthdays during signup, and nobody enforced the age floor. The result: large numbers of primary school children on platforms designed for adults.

What changed was a combination of research, public pressure, and courtroom evidence. Internal documents from Meta, released through US litigation, showed the company’s own researchers had identified harms to teenage users and that the company had not acted on those findings. Jonathan Haidt’s 2024 book The Anxious Generation gave millions of parents a framework for what they were already observing at home. And a series of high-profile cases, including ongoing trials in the US where social media is being treated as a defective product, shifted the political calculation.

Governments that had been cautious began moving quickly. Australia passed its under-16 ban in late 2025. Within weeks, European countries announced their own proposals. By early 2026, the question had shifted from “should we restrict access?” to “how?” The result: social media bans for children went from a fringe idea to mainstream policy in under a year.

Three approaches to social media bans for children

Social media bans for children fall into three broad categories:

Outright age bans. Australia’s model prohibits children under a specified age from holding social media accounts at all. Platforms must take reasonable steps to prevent underage access, with fines of up to A$49.5 million for non-compliance. Greece has announced a similar ban for under-15s starting January 2027. The responsibility sits with the platforms, not with parents.

Parental consent requirements. France, Portugal, Spain, and several other European countries are requiring verified parental consent for children below a certain age (typically 15 or 16) to use social media. Children are not banned outright, but platforms must confirm that a parent has approved access. This approach preserves parental choice while adding a formal gate.

Platform design restrictions. Some jurisdictions are targeting how platforms work rather than who can use them. The EU Parliament voted in November 2025 to recommend banning features like infinite scrolling and autoplay for minors. Nebraska has passed legislation targeting addictive design features. The UK’s Online Safety Act requires platforms to conduct age assurance and protect children from harmful content, without imposing a blanket age ban, though the UK government is currently considering whether to go further.

In practice, many countries are combining approaches. The UK’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently being debated between the Commons and the Lords, could introduce social media restrictions for under-16s alongside existing platform design requirements. US states are experimenting with different combinations of age bans, parental consent, and design restrictions.

What counts as “social media”

This matters more than it sounds. Each country defines the platforms covered by its restrictions differently. Australia’s ban covers Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, X, Reddit, Twitch, and Kick, but explicitly excludes WhatsApp and YouTube Kids. Other countries have drawn the line differently, and some have not yet specified which platforms will be affected.

The distinction matters for families because your child may be on a platform that falls outside a particular country’s ban. Messaging apps, gaming platforms with social features, and AI chatbots are often not covered, even when they present similar risks to traditional social media. Check the tracker for platform-specific details where available.

The US: a patchwork, not a single law

Unlike Australia or France, the United States has no federal social media ban for children. Individual states are passing their own laws, and the approaches vary widely. Florida and Utah were early movers. Massachusetts voted this week to ban social media for under-14s and require parental consent for 14 and 15-year-olds. Virginia has introduced daily time limits rather than outright bans.

Most of these state laws face legal challenges. Courts have blocked or delayed enforcement in several states on First Amendment and privacy grounds. The result is a patchwork where the rules depend on where you live, and where enforcement remains uncertain even in states that have passed legislation. The tracker includes US states alongside countries so you can see what applies where you are.

The age verification problem

Every approach depends on knowing how old the user is, and this remains the hardest part. Self-declared birthdays during signup do not work. Requiring government ID creates privacy concerns. Biometric age estimation struggles with teenagers, whose physical appearance changes rapidly.

Platforms are now being forced to build verification systems. Meta is testing a reusable age token called AgeKey in the UK, Australia, and Brazil. Norway plans to use its national digital identity system, BankID, to verify age before account creation. Denmark is developing a similar approach.

No country has yet demonstrated age verification that works at scale, resists workarounds, and protects privacy. This is the gap between legislation and reality. Laws are being passed faster than the technology to enforce them is being proved. In the coming months, your child may be asked to verify their age through ID, a parent’s device, or a biometric scan. How that works in practice is still being figured out.

What this means for your family

How social media bans for children affect your family depends on where you live but there are concrete steps worth taking now regardless of jurisdiction.

If your country has passed or is passing a ban: your child’s existing accounts may eventually be affected. In Australia, under-16s with existing accounts were signed out when enforcement began. Other countries may follow a similar approach. Check the tracker for implementation timelines and enforcement dates.

If your country requires parental consent: you will likely be asked to verify your identity and approve your child’s access through a platform-specific or third-party system. This gives you a formal decision point that did not exist before.

If you are in a country without restrictions yet, or if your country’s restrictions are still being debated: the direction of travel is clear, and there are things worth doing now rather than waiting for legislation to force them.

Check what age your child used when signing up. Many children entered a false birthday to create accounts. Some platforms are beginning to audit existing accounts against age verification, and accounts registered with incorrect ages may be flagged or removed. Knowing what birthday your child used helps you prepare for what comes next.

Review which platforms your child is actually on. Not just the obvious ones. Discord, Roblox, AI chatbots like ChatGPT, and messaging apps with social features often fall outside the scope of bans but present their own risks.

Have the conversation now. Legislation gives you a framework (“the law is changing, and your account might be affected”) but the most useful thing you can do is talk with your child about why these restrictions exist, what the platforms are designed to do, and how your family wants to handle access going forward.

Bookmark this page. The tracker covers every social media ban for children worldwide and is updated every week. Or subscribe to the Wired Parents newsletter for a weekly summary every Thursday.

Go to the tracker now to see the social media bans for children

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Sources: Tech Policy Press — Global Social Media Age Restriction Tracker TechCrunch — Countries moving to ban social media for children (updated April 2026) UK House of Commons Library — Proposals to ban social media for children (April 2026) Wikipedia — Social media age verification laws by country