Experts have reservations about how such a ban would be implemented and whether it would work: The EU’s Digital Services Act is not well-suited to driving systemic change in digital platforms.
Days after French lawmakers voted to ban social media for children under the age of 15, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez promised to protect Spain’s children “from the digital Wild West.”
Hours of scrolling through harmful content are reshaping young people’s brains and causing anxiety and other health risks, experts say, forcing European governments to act.
“The particular focus on minors comes because of the increased risk of long-term harm, as they are still developing cognitively,” Paul O. Richter, a fellow at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, told DW. “There is a lot of research showing strong correlations between social media use and mental health problems.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has also expressed support for an EU-wide age limit, in line with a new Australian law that set the age limit at 16 for using social media.
But how could such a ban be enforced — and would it even work?
Which European countries are considering banning social networks for children?
In France, the bill calling for a ban on minors under the age of 15 will now be sent to the Senate of the French parliament for a vote.
In Spain, the Council of Ministers is expected to approve the ban on minors under the age of 16 and add the clause to a bill that is under discussion in the Spanish parliament.
“Today, our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone, a space of addiction, abuse, pornography, manipulation and violence,” Sanchez said as he announced the proposed ban.
Other European countries are also considering a ban on social media for children under the age of 16 or 15.
At the end of 2025, Denmark decided to protect children and young people from online abuse and “create a better legal framework for their digital lives.”
In a multi-party agreement, political groups in Denmark said access to some social media platforms should be banned. A law has not yet come into force.
Italy has also introduced a bill in the Italian parliament to impose restrictions on social media, including for child influencers under the age of 15.
According to a senior official who spoke to the Reuters news agency, Greece is “very close” to imposing a similar ban.
Last week, Portugal introduced a bill requiring parental consent for children under the age of 16 to access social media content.
Austria is also considering a ban on social media, while the United Kingdom has launched a consultation process on the issue.
Meanwhile, European parliamentarians last November (2025) recommended a Europe-wide ban on social media for children under the age of 16, while also suggesting that teenagers aged 13 to 16 could have access with parental consent.
An EU-wide digital ID to verify age?
One idea being discussed for age verification is an EU-wide digital ID. Richter, a Bruegel associate, said the EU digital ID is envisioned as a tool that would verify a user’s age without compromising personal data.
“It would allow people to digitally verify that they are over a certain age without having to register any additional personal data, such as date of birth, name, address or identification number. This would make it easier to enforce a digital age restriction,” Richter said.
But Marc Damie, spokesman for France’s ctrl+alt+reclaim ― a youth-led tech justice and digital rights movement ― claimed that details about how age-verification apps or IDs would work, and whether private information would be secure, are unclear.
“Such bans will be counterproductive,” he said. “We agree that there is a problem, that social media is causing mental health issues, but such a ban,” he claimed, “is simply a symbolic measure on the part of politicians and not a real solution.”
Expert: Banning social media would not alleviate ‘structural problems’
“Banning doesn’t solve the structural problems” on social media platforms, Damie said. He highlighted as key issues the platform’s practices such as autoplay — which forces users with unwanted and unexpected audio and video content — and anxiety-inducing endless scrolling, designed to keep users hooked online. Damie also opposed the age limit, because “addiction doesn’t stop at 15 or 16.”
Richter agreed that the lack of sufficient research makes it difficult to argue conclusively for a specific age as the optimal limit.
“Some of the potential risks are specifically related to the effect that social comparison through social media has on adolescent girls and young women,” he said. “Therefore, a higher age limit may be justified.”
Only the EU can force online platforms to make systemic changes
The European Union has supported a digital adulthood, but has warned member states not to violate its Digital Services Act (DSA), which requires technology companies to mitigate the risk related to algorithms and the impact on minors.
“The DSA and the EU Commission are the only entities that can impose additional obligations on very large platforms,” Thomas Regnier, spokesman for the Commissioner for Technology, told reporters.
Richter said that member states are simply disappointed and do not think that the EU is able to effectively impose its laws on foreign technology companies, mainly those in the US.
“The DSA law requires large online platforms such as popular social networks to… change their algorithms and platform design to mitigate systemic risks, including those to minors,” Richter said. “EU law also requires them to share data with researchers to allow for independent research into the risks.
“In practice, this has not happened significantly. That is why proposals for stricter regulations, including social media bans, have gained more support,” he added.
A week ago, Elon Musk, owner of the social media platform X, labeled the Spanish prime minister “a tyrant and a traitor to the people of Spain,” after the latter announced his plans to ban social media for children.
Musk has tried to portray European regulations on creating safe spaces online as a ploy to stifle free speech online. Damie said it was time for EU countries to “invest together in European alternatives” to non-European social platforms. “We are hostage to big American companies,” he said. The reality is “either with them or there is no digital life,” he said. The idea is being discussed among experts in the hope that a European platform would better comply with EU regulations and values
