More than two decades after Facebook’s 2004 launch ushered in a new online era, European governments are rolling out social media bans for minors. But as pressure from concerned parents and school boards builds, the European Union — long the standard-setter in tech regulation — is struggling to keep pace.
Within a year, the EU could face a patchwork of national bans as countries act independently and Brussels lags behind. That prospect is driving politicians to demand faster action from the European Commission: either stricter enforcement under the existing Digital Services Act, new EU-wide rules on minors’ access to social media, or both.
Complicating matters further, national bans risk colliding with the EU’s already muscular digital rulebook, raising the possibility of legal disputes between member states and Brussels.
“I fully understand these proposed laws in countries like France, Italy, Spain and Denmark, because there is unbelievable social pressure,” said MEP Sandro Gozi (Renew, FR). “The governments on the national level are feeling much more pressure than the Commission and we cannot waste time anymore.”
Backlash against social media goes global
In recent years, a growing backlash against social media has taken hold worldwide, driven in part by striking data on how deeply it’s embedded in young people’s lives.
In 2022, 96% of 15-year-olds in the EU used social media daily, according to the Commission, with 37% spending more than three hours per day on platforms. A Danish government study found that 94% of Danish children have social media accounts before the age of 13.
Meanwhile, a EU survey of 40,000 adolescents in Ireland, Hungary, Slovenia and Spain found that nearly half of 15-year-olds struggle with depression and just over half with anxiety — with higher social media use linked to worse outcomes.
MEP Laura Ballarín Cereza (S&D, ES) has launched Share to Protect in her native Spain, an initiative to collect testimonies from families and teachers on the harmful effects of digital platforms. She said stories about eating disorders, depression and bullying showed “how serious this problem is and how urgently action is needed.”
Australia set a global benchmark in December 2025 by banning under-16s from major platforms including Snapchat, Instagram, Tiktok, X, Facebook and YouTube. The law places the onus of age-verification on companies, which face hefty fines if they fail to keep minors off their services.
The move has been watched closely by Brussels and capitals across the EU. In her September State of the Union address, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was monitoring Australia’s approach and considering similar action in Europe, supported by an expert panel advising on next steps.
That panel was due to report by the end of 2025 — but with no findings delivered, the European Parliament and member states have moved ahead on their own.
In November, under the leadership of MEP Christel Schaldemose (S&D, DK), the Parliament overwhelmingly backed a non-legislative report urging the Commission to introduce an EU-wide minimum age of 16 for social media access, with 13- to 15-year-olds able to access with parental consent.
Meanwhile, French lawmakers approved a ban for under-15s in January, with President Emmanuel Macron pushing for implementation by the next school year in September. A month later, Spain proposed a similar measure.
As of March 30, 10 EU countries had proposed or were close to proposing such bans.
Commission lags on social media crackdown
Several lawmakers were frustrated with the Commission’s sluggish pace and warned about the risk of legal fragmentation throughout the bloc.
MEP Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Renew, FR) said that it’s critical that any ban happens on the EU-level, and also pointed to a lack of procedural transparency. The Commission is yet to release the full list of expert panelists guiding the policy.
“It’s completely stupid and nonsense,” she said of the opacity. “The only way forward on social media bans is for the Commission to act now."
The first meeting of the Commission’s panel was on March 5, nearly six months after Von der Leyen’s speech. Now, the revised due date for its findings is this summer. Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier said “a coordinated EU response is necessary” and that the Commission was already testing an age verification app under the DSA together with member states.
Still, some feel the wheels are turning too slowly. “My advice to the Commission is to speed up,” said Schaldemose, the rapporteur for the proposed social media ban for minors as well as the DSA.
In France, Inès Legendre, a lawyer and advocacy officer with the minor protection advocacy group e-Enfance said that the DSA was an effective tool to clean up the platforms, but due to a lack of enforcement, French politicians now felt no choice but to move forward on the national level.
But not everyone sees more regulation as the way forward.
“Social media bans, however well intentioned, are junk policies,” said Patrick Grady, an EU policy manager at the Chamber of Progress, a center-left tech policy coalition. He said that the effectiveness of such bans are unproven, they are difficult to enforce without undermining privacy and that existing EU rules already seek to make platforms safer for children.
Leandra Voss, a 24-year-old activist with Brussels-based ctrl+alt+reclaim, said the root issue with these platforms is addictive design components. To her, bans on minors are merely a political quick-fix to appease voters.
Even among those who acknowledge the harmful effects of social media on minors, some see bans as a crude tool that doesn't address the fundamental issues inherent in the platforms — potentially undermining existing EU regulation.
“For me, the solutions cannot only be age assurance,” said Jessica Galissaire, a senior policy researcher at Interface. She instead argued for targeting the algorithms and forcing companies to safeguard the well-being of users by leveraging the DSA before considering another layer of regulation.
National bans risk colliding with EU law
Even if member states push ahead with social media bans, they risk colliding with EU law.
In 2023, France passed a “digital majority” law setting a minimum age of 15 for social media use. However, the regulation was never enforced after the Commission deemed it incompatible with the DSA. France had failed to notify Brussels, according to Gozi, and the law also encroached on an area where the EU holds primary competence.
Yon-Courtin said another such conflict could arise with France’s upcoming regulation and as similar rules are rolled out across the bloc.
However, this time around, Gozi said, France has notified the Commission and is framing its new law on public health grounds, rather than digital regulation. Under Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, member states can introduce national measures on public health if the EU fails to act within six months of notification.
At the same time, the legal basis for an EU-level ban is already in place. The upcoming Digital Fairness Act could introduce new restrictions, while Article 28 of the DSA — which includes guidelines on the protection of minors — and existing General Data Protection Regulation rules on minors’ data provide further avenues for action.
“If the Commission sees that member states are moving ahead quickly this can be more incentive for a harmonized approach at the European level,” said Gozi. “The Commission should take the courage to make a proposal and allow the member states to negotiate around that.”
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