Austria has announced plans to ban social media use for children under the age of 14, citing concerns about addiction, exposure to harmful content, and unrealistic standards.
Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler said it is extremely difficult for parents to monitor their children’s activity on platforms designed to make users “deliberately dependent”, reports RTE.
The country, which has a population of 9.2 million, aims to introduce the legislation as early as this summer so it can be implemented quickly.
Mr Babler said the focus will be on platforms that use “algorithms that create addiction, generate profits and have harmful effects”, reports RTE.
He added that children are often exposed to unrealistic beauty standards, glorified violence, misinformation, and manipulation online.
However, he noted there is not yet agreement within the coalition government on how age verification would be enforced, reports RTE.
A recent three-week “no mobile phone” trial involving 72,000 pupils and their families has just concluded.
Education Minister Christoph Wiederkehr said feedback suggested the experience felt like withdrawal for many students and increased awareness of excessive usage, reports RTE.
Alongside the proposed ban, the government plans to introduce a compulsory school subject titled “Media and Democracy” to help students identify misinformation and recognise anti-democratic influence.
The Freedom Party of Austria, which won the most votes in the 2024 election but did not form a government, criticised the proposal.
Party MP Katayun Pracher-Hilander described it as a “frontal assault on freedom of expression”, reports RTE.
She argued that the move targets growing alternative and critical voices on social media.
Several European Union countries, including France, Spain and Denmark, are also considering similar age restrictions, while Ireland is examining the idea, reports RTE.
In the United States, tech companies Meta and Google were recently found liable by a Los Angeles civil court for contributing to a teenage girl’s depression through Instagram and YouTube.
The court ruled that the companies failed to adequately warn young users about the risks of excessive use despite being aware of the dangers, reports RTE.
Separately, a jury in Santa Fe found Meta liable for endangering underage users of Facebook and Instagram, reports RTE.
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