Austria plans social media ban for children under 14

Austria’s ruling coalition has announced plans to ban social media use by children under 14, joining a number of other countries that have imposed restrictions on young people.

Alexander Proll, the official in charge of digitalization in Chancellor Christian Stocker’s office, said the draft law will be prepared by the end of June.

He said “technically modern methods” of age verification will be used, allowing users to verify their age while respecting their privacy.

It is not yet clear when the plan to introduce a minimum age limit, which will need parliamentary approval, will come into force.

Australia took the lead on this issue in 2024, becoming the first country to remove children under 16 from social media to protect them from harmful content and excessive screen time.

A similar ban is expected to come into force in Indonesia on Saturday.

In Europe, lawmakers in France approved a bill in January banning social media for children under 15, paving the way for the measure to take effect in September of the following school year.

Spain announced plans to ban social media for under-16s in February.

Denmark announced an agreement to ban access to those under 15 in late 2025.

The British government announced in January that it would consider banning social media from young teenagers.

Austria’s three-party centrist coalition also joins this trend.

“Today is a good day for children in our country,” Vice-Rector Andreas Babler said at a press conference on Friday.

“We will resolutely protect children and young people against the negative effects of social media platforms in the future.”

“We will no longer stand by and watch these platforms addict our children and often make them sick.”

The Austrian government plans to accompany the ban with the aim of strengthening teaching in schools on how to use media and deal with artificial intelligence.