Austria plans to ban social media use for under 14

VIENNA — Austria’s coalition government announced plans on Friday to ban the use of social media by children under 14, joining a string of other countries that have drawn up restrictions for young people.

Alexander Pröll, head of digitalization in Chancellor Christian Stocker’s office, said the bill would be drawn up by the end of June. He said “technically modern methods” of age verification will be used to allow users to verify their age while respecting their privacy.

It was not yet clear when the plan to introduce a minimum age, which will require parliamentary approval, could come into force.

In 2024, Australia took the lead, becoming the first country to exclude children under 16 from social media in a bid to protect them from harmful content and excessive screen time. A similar ban in Indonesia is expected to take effect on Saturday.

In Europe, French lawmakers in January approved a bill banning social media for children under 15, paving the way for the measure to take effect when the school year begins in September. Spain announced plans last month to ban social media for under-16s. Denmark announced an agreement last fall to ban access to under-15s. The British government said in January it would consider banning young teenagers from social media.

Austria’s centrist tripartite coalition is now joining the trend.

“Today is a good day for the children of our country,” Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler said at a press conference. “In the future, we will resolutely protect children and young people from the negative effects of social media platforms. »

“We will no longer watch these platforms make our children addicted and often sick,” he said.

The Austrian government plans to accompany the ban with an effort to strengthen teaching in schools on the use of media and artificial intelligence.