Ігор Вишневський That's Life 28 March 2026, 12:46

Two more countries are totally banning social media for children and teens. When and how do they plan to do it?

Indonesia on Saturday began imposing restrictions on social media accounts for children under the age of 16.

According to Bloomberg, it became the first country in Southeast Asia to take such a step.

The publication reports that the new rules do not provide for a complete ban on all children’s accounts on social networks, but there are platforms that are considered «high-risk» — these are YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X and Roblox.

The listed platforms must prohibit access to users under the age of 16 by deleting or deactivating accounts. At the same time, some other services with a lower risk level can still be used by children, provided that safety measures and parental controls are followed.

Meanwhile, another European country, Austria, has also embarked on a social media ban. Reuters reports that the Austrian government plans to introduce a ban on the use of social media by children under the age of 14, as announced on Friday.

Cabinet members from the three ruling parties announced an agreement among themselves on the principle of a ban aimed at protecting children from «addictive algorithms» and sexually violent content.

At the same time, there is still no complete understanding in this country of when the ban will come into effect and how exactly it will be implemented.

As dev.ua wrote, Poland plans to ban social networks for children under 15, and in Germany , access to social networks may be restricted for children under 14.

Meanwhile, Turkey wants to restrict Steam and other gaming platforms if they don’t meet government requirements.