Following Australia's groundbreaking social media ban for children launched in December, European nations are debating their own restrictions.
From proposed legislation to existing measures, here's how countries across Europe are approaching the issue.
Spain
Spain will ban social media platforms for under-16s and will require the implementation of age-verification systems, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said at the World Government Summit in Dubai.
"Social media has become a failed state, where laws are ignored, and crimes are tolerated," he said on February 3. "We will protect them from the digital Wild West."
Sanchez said his government would introduce a new bill to hold social media executives accountable for illegal and hateful content.
Euronews Next reached out to the Spanish government to clarify whether Sanchez's remarks refer to a new law or a similar one that has previously been discussed.
Arecent poll by YouGov found that 79 percent of Spanish parents agree with an Australian-style age restriction for social media.
However, one in three respondents said that an age restriction would be difficult to enforce in Spain.
France
French lawmakers approved a bill banning social media for children under 15 on January 26. French President Emmanuel Macron has requested that the legislation be fast-tracked, and it will now be discussed by the Senate in the coming weeks.
“Banning social media for those under 15: this is what scientists recommend, and this is what the French people are overwhelmingly calling for,” Macron said after the vote.
“Because our children’s brains are not for sale — neither to American platforms nor to Chinese networks. Because their dreams must not be dictated by algorithms.”
On top of restricting social media for all children under 15, the legislation would ban smartphones in all French high schools.
France already passed a law in 2023 restricting social media access for minors under 15, requiring parental consent before they could open an account. However, the law was never able to be applied as it clashed with the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA).
United Kingdom
Under pressure from some bereaved families and charities, British lawmakers are taking concrete steps to ban children under 16 from accessing certain social media platforms.
On January 21, the House of Lords, the UK's upper house of parliament, voted in favour of an amendment to the government's Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
If it passes the House of Commons, the amendment would require social media sites to implement "highly effective" age checks within 12 months, to make sure no users under age 16 can access them.
Separately, the government launched a consultation to "seek views from parents, young people, and civil society" on the effectiveness of a ban, according to the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.
But it could be forced to fast-track the ban if more MPs support the amendment.
Denmark
In November, the Danish government said it had secured an agreement from all political parties to ban access to some social media sites for those under the age of 15.
The move is to “protect children and young people in the digital world,” from platforms that may expose them to harmful content or features, according to a November press release.
“Children and young people have their sleep disrupted, lose their peace and concentration, and experience increasing pressure from digital relationships where adults are not always present,” the statement read.
The measure would give parents the right to let their children access social media after they turn 13.
Caroline Stage, Denmark’s minister for digital affairs, told the Associated Press that lawmakers will likely take months to pass the relevant legislation for a ban.
Denmark has a national electronic ID system and plans to set up an age verification app, Stage said, but did not specify how a potential ban would be enforced.
The country also earmarked 160 million kroner (€21.4 million) for 14 child online safety initiatives.
Finland
Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said in January that he supported banning social media use for children under 15.
Orpo said he was open to the restriction because long screen time is one of the biggest obstacles to getting children moving more.
"I am deeply concerned about the lack of physical activity among children and young people, and the fact that it is increasing," local newspaper YLE News reported Orpo as saying.
The Finnish parliament has already restricted the use of cellphones during school hours in elementary and secondary schools.
Italy
Last May, the Italian parliament introduced a bill that could impose social media restrictions on children younger than 15.
The law, which is being studied by the Italian Senate, also includes laws to restrict “kidfluencers” under the age of 15 on social media platforms.
The draft law also requires that platforms verify user age using a “mini portafoglio nazionale,” translated as a digital identity wallet, that is tied to the upcoming EU age-verification system.
Italy’s education minister Giuseppe Valditara told the Italian newspaper Il Foglio that the country should follow the Australian model.
Since November, Italy has also had an age-verification legislation in place for adult sites.
Restrictions in Italy could potentially come from a pending class action lawsuit similar to the French one, where a group of Italian families sued TikTok and the Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram.
The lawsuit alleges that more than 3.5 million children between the ages of seven and 14 use social media platforms despite being too young. The case is due to be heard in February.
One of the lawsuit’s aims is to compel technology companies to enforce stricter age verification practices to make sure that fewer children under 14 are able to get on their platforms, according to a statement from law firm Ambrosio e Commodo.
Greece
In September, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told the UN General Assembly that the country is considering a social media ban similar to the Australian model.
“We are conducting the largest uncontrolled experiment ever on the minds of our children. We do not know what the consequences will be, but we are almost certain that they will not be positive,” local media quoted Mitsotakis as saying.
Greece has already banned smartphones from the classroom, which Mitsotakis said has had a transformational effect on children.
The government alsolaunched a website last year that gives parents instructions for how to enable parental controls on iOS and Android mobile phones.
Greece’s Kids Wallet, a parental control tool that can restrict or block access to applications and online services, will reportedly be used as an age verifier for younger people. The app gives parents the ability to restrict or block access to applications and online services.
The device that uses the wallet may store the identity of the minor and present it to the competent authentication authority.
Germany
There are no under-16 restrictionson social media in Germany - at least, not yet, according to the German Parliament.
The government said in November it had asked a committee to study whether a ban could be implemented in Germany, along with how social media impacts Germany’s teens more broadly. It will present a final report on it in the autumn of 2026.
Germany is studying a ban that applies to every underage child and will not let some children be exempt because they receive consent from their parents
If the German parliament goes ahead with a ban, it says it would prevent children from having social media accounts like Australia did, so children would still be able to access the sites without being logged in.
A petition calling for a legal minimum age of 16 for social media sites received over 34,000 signatures and is being examined by the government.
European Union
As EU member states consider national social media bans for under-16s, the European Union is also urging stronger action across the bloc.
In November, the European Parliament proposed a non-binding resolution setting a Europe-wide minimum age of 16 in order to access social media, video-sharing platforms and AI companions.
MEPs suggested children aged 13 to 16 could access social platforms with parental consent.
Parliament proposes a harmonised EU digital minimum age of 16 for access to social media, video-sharing platforms and AI companions, while allowing 13- to 16-year-olds access with parental consent.
This article was updated on 3 February 2026 with updates from Spain and Finland.
