From outright bans to parental consent and age verification, governments are tightening the rules on children’s social media use. Here is how Cyprus compares with the rest of the world.
Children have long been able to get around social media age limits by simply entering a different date of birth. Governments around the world are increasingly deciding that this is no longer good enough.
Australia has gone furthest, requiring major social media platforms to prevent under-16s from holding accounts. European countries are moving in the same direction, while the European Commission has now proposed common rules across the EU.
Cyprus joined the movement this week, with the government proposing 15 as the minimum age for access to social media.
But the rules differ considerably from country to country. Some governments favour outright age limits, others require parental consent, while some are concentrating on age verification and restrictions on potentially addictive features.
Here is how the different approaches compare.
| Country/region | Proposed/actual age | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Cyprus | 15 | Proposed |
| European Union | Under 13 / restricted 13–14 | Proposed |
| Australia | 16 | In force |
| Greece | 15 | Planned |
| Britain | 16 | Planned |
| France | 15 | Legislation pursued |
| Spain | 16 | Proposed |
| Austria | 14 | Proposed |
| Denmark | 15 | Planned, with parental exceptions |
| Norway | 16 | Proposed |
| Slovenia | 15 | Proposed |
| Portugal | Parental consent 13–16 | Legislation progressing |
| New Zealand | 16 | Bill proposed |
| Turkey | 15 | Restrictions introduced/planned |
| Indonesia | 16 | Restrictions introduced |
| Malaysia | 16 | Restrictions introduced |
| Brazil | Parental supervision | In force |
| China | Various | Extensive restrictions |
The measures are not directly comparable: some prohibit accounts, others restrict access or require parental consent, while several proposals have yet to become law.
Cyprus – minimum age of 15 proposed
Cyprus entered the debate this week when the Council of Ministers approved an Action Plan for the Protection of Minors on Social Media.
The government proposes 15 as the minimum age for access to social media, although legislation and implementation measures will be required before the restriction takes effect.
The move comes amid particularly high social media use among young people in Cyprus and forms part of a broader European push for stronger protection of children online.
European Union – no social media under 13
The European Commission has now proposed potentially far-reaching rules covering all 27 member states.
Under its proposed EU Kids Act, children under 13 would not be allowed to use social media.
Between 13 and 15, children would only be able to use limited “mini accounts” established and supervised by parents, with restrictions on features and usage time. From 15, teenagers could have their own accounts, but platforms would still be subject to safe-design requirements for users under 18.
The proposed legislation also goes beyond conventional social networks. Video-sharing services, online games, AI companions and chatbots aimed at children would face additional restrictions.
Potentially addictive features including infinite scrolling, profiling-based recommendation feeds and reward mechanisms would also be targeted.
The proposal is not yet law. It will have to be negotiated with EU governments and the European Parliament.
Australia – under 16, already in force
Australia remains the country most closely watched by governments considering social media restrictions.
Since December 10, 2025, age-restricted social media platforms have been required to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 from creating or keeping accounts.
The rules cover major services including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, YouTube, Reddit and Kick.
The responsibility falls on the companies rather than children or their parents.
Online gaming and standalone messaging services are among the services excluded from the rules.
Australian authorities reported that platforms had removed access to 4.7 million under-16 accounts shortly after the restrictions came into force.
Greece – under 15
Greece is among the European countries pushing strongly for age restrictions and more effective age verification.
Athens has backed an under-15 threshold and has also been a prominent supporter of a common European solution rather than relying solely on different national systems.
The emphasis is increasingly on making platforms establish a user’s age rather than allowing children simply to declare it themselves.
Britain – moving towards 16
Britain has been examining an under-16 restriction, drawing partly on Australia’s experience.
The country already has extensive child-safety requirements under its Online Safety Act, including duties on online services to protect children from harmful material.
The emerging debate therefore goes beyond whether children can open social media accounts and includes which features and content should be available to different age groups.
France – 15
France has been one of Europe’s strongest advocates of a 15-year minimum age.
Paris has previously attempted to introduce parental-consent requirements for younger social media users, but encountered difficulties over how national legislation fitted with European law.
President Emmanuel Macron has subsequently pushed for tougher restrictions both nationally and across the EU.
Spain – 16
Spain has proposed raising the minimum age for opening a social media account to 16.
The wider Spanish approach would also increase responsibilities on technology companies and require effective age-verification systems.
The proposed restriction requires legislative approval before becoming fully operational.
Austria – 14
Austria has considered a lower threshold than many of its European neighbours, proposing a minimum age of 14 for algorithm-driven social media platforms.
The proposal is aimed particularly at services such as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat.
As elsewhere, a central question is how platforms would reliably establish that a user is old enough.
Denmark – 15, but with exceptions
Denmark has backed a general minimum age of 15 for social media.
Its approach, however, would allow parents to give permission for children aged 13 and 14 to use certain platforms.
This makes the Danish model less absolute than Australia’s under-16 restriction.
Norway – towards 16
Norway is working towards an effective 16-year social media threshold, with technology companies expected to verify the ages of young users.
Exceptions are expected for services considered necessary for areas such as education and organised activities.
Slovenia – 15
Slovenia has also been developing legislation aimed at preventing children under 15 from accessing social media platforms.
The proposals have included major services such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram but remain under development.
Portugal – parental consent
Portugal is taking a different route.
Rather than simply excluding all younger teenagers, proposed legislation would require children aged 13 to 16 to obtain explicit parental consent to use social media.
Portugal has looked to its digital identity infrastructure as a possible way of verifying that parental permission is genuine.
New Zealand – 16
New Zealand has proposed legislation based partly on Australia’s model that would prevent under-16s from holding accounts on designated social media platforms.
The responsibility would principally fall on the platform rather than children or parents.
Services such as messaging, education and online gaming would not necessarily fall under the same rules.
Turkey – 15
Turkey has also moved towards restricting social media accounts for children under 15, alongside requirements for stronger age verification and parental controls.
Its approach forms part of wider efforts to regulate children’s access to digital services rather than social media alone.
Indonesia – 16
Indonesia has introduced measures delaying children’s access to high-risk social media services until 16.
The rules require digital platforms to differentiate their services according to the risks they pose to children and introduce stronger age-assurance measures.
The government has characterised its approach as delaying children’s access to high-risk platforms rather than imposing a general ban on technology.
Malaysia – 16
Malaysia has also moved towards preventing under-16s from opening social media accounts.
Its approach places responsibility on online platforms to establish appropriate safeguards and comply with child-safety requirements.
As with Australia, the restriction should not be confused with a general prohibition on children using the internet.
Brazil – parental supervision
Brazil has chosen a different model.
Its Digital Statute for Children and Adolescents strengthens age verification, parental controls and protections for younger users rather than establishing a straightforward Australian-style social media ban.
Accounts belonging to younger users are subject to parental or guardian oversight, while the legislation also addresses areas including behavioural profiling and targeted advertising.
China – much broader controls
China’s approach is difficult to compare directly with those of Western countries because it has long imposed extensive controls on children’s internet use.
Online services are required to provide special protections for minors, with controls covering content, functionality, usage time and spending.
Social networks, video services, livestreaming platforms and other online services are also subject to requirements aimed at preventing internet addiction among children.
China therefore regulates both whether and how children use digital platforms rather than relying on a single social media minimum age.
How would the platforms know your age?
This may prove to be the most difficult part of the global crackdown.
A minimum age means little if a 12-year-old can claim to be 18 simply by entering a false date of birth.
Governments are therefore increasingly shifting responsibility towards technology companies and demanding meaningful age assurance.
Possible methods include digital identity systems, checking identity documents, estimating age from facial images and using other account information to assess whether a person’s declared age is credible.
But these methods create another problem: privacy.
A system designed to protect children could potentially require millions of adults to provide additional personal information merely to prove that they are adults.
Regulators are consequently looking at privacy-preserving systems capable of confirming that a user is above a particular age without necessarily revealing his or her identity.
From parental responsibility to platform responsibility
Perhaps the biggest change is not the particular age governments are choosing, but who they believe should be responsible.
For years, social media companies largely relied on users entering their own date of birth, leaving parents to police children’s internet use.
That model is rapidly disappearing.
Australia already requires platforms to take reasonable steps to keep under-16s from holding accounts. The European Commission wants platforms to prove that their services are safe for young users, while governments from Spain to Norway are pursuing stronger age-verification requirements.
There is still little international agreement over whether the appropriate age is 13, 14, 15 or 16.
But the direction is increasingly clear: governments are moving away from asking children how old they are and towards requiring social media companies to prove they know.
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