What countries do to regulate children's social media access

Students look at their phones in Melbourne on Thursday as Australia looks to ban children under 16 from social media. | AFP-JIJI

REUTERS
November 29, 2024

PARIS – Australia has approved a social media ban for children aged under 16, one of the world's toughest regulations targeting Big Tech. Here is what Australia, European countries, and tech companies have been doing to regulate children's access to social media.

The new law forces tech giants from Instagram and Facebook owner Meta to TikTok to stop minors logging in or face fines of up to A$49.5 million ($32 million). A trial of methods to enforce it will start in January, with the ban to take effect in a year.

Social media platforms including TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat say people need to be at least 13 to sign up. Child protection advocates say control is insufficient, however, and official data in several European countries show huge numbers of children under 13 have social media accounts.