Nick Smallwood weighs up the legal reality of social media bans: what would they mean for platforms, parents & regulators?
- A growing number of jurisdictions, including Australia and France, are introducing or considering minimum age bans on social media, with the UK now consulting on similar measures.
- While designed to protect children from harmful content and addictive platform design, bans raise complex issues around scope and enforceability.
- Stricter age checks would require more data collection, increasing privacy risks and regulatory scrutiny.
A number of countries around the world, including the UK, are currently contemplating social media bans for children. Australia got there first, implementing a ban on under-16s on 10 December 2025, but others are not far behind. In January 2026, the National Assembly in France voted overwhelmingly in favour of a similar ban. In the days before the vote, President Macron made the case for the policy on French TV:
‘Le cerveau de nos enfants et de nos adolescents n’est pas à vendre. Leurs émotions
