Austria’s ruling coalition on Friday announced plans to ban the use of social media for children under the age of 14, joining a string of other countries in placing restrictions on young people.
Alexander Brühl, the official in Chancellor Christian Stocker’s office responsible for digitalisation, said the draft law would be prepared by the end of June. He said that “technologically modern methods” will be used for age verification, allowing users to verify their age while respecting their privacy.
It was not immediately clear when the plan to introduce a minimum age, which would need Parliament’s approval, might take effect.
Australia took the lead in 2024, becoming the first country to kick children under 16 off social media with the aim of protecting them from harmful content and excessive screen time. A similar ban is scheduled to take effect in Indonesia on Saturday.
In Europe, lawmakers in France approved in January a draft law prohibiting the use of social media for children under the age of 15, paving the way for the measure to enter into force at the beginning of the next school year in September. Last month, Spain announced plans to ban social media for children under the age of 16. Last fall, Denmark announced an agreement to ban the entry of children under 15 years old. The British government said in January that it would consider banning young teenagers from using social media.
Now Austria’s centrist three-party coalition is joining the trend.
“Today is a good day for children in our country,” Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler said at a press conference. “In the future, we will resolutely protect children and youth from the negative effects of social media platforms.”
“We will no longer look at these platforms making our children addicted and often sick,” he said.
The Austrian government plans to accompany the ban with an effort to strengthen schools’ education on how to use media and deal with artificial intelligence.