A wave of laws is redrawing who is allowed online, and this is our running list of the countries that ban social media for minors, sorted by the minimum age each one sets. In under two years the idea jumped from a fringe proposal to law on several continents: Australia switched on the first nationwide under-16 ban in December 2025, and France became the first EU country to adopt one in 2026. We update this page as new countries join, so treat it as a live snapshot rather than a finished story.
The detail that matters most is not the age number but how these bans are enforced. To keep minors out, platforms have to check the age of everyone, and that is done with government-ID uploads, face scans and behavioral profiling. That turns a child-safety rule into a privacy question for the entire adult population, which is the thread running through every entry below.
The full list by country
| Country | Min age | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 16 | In force since 10 December 2025 (first nationwide ban) |
| France | 15 | Adopted 2026, phased in from September 2026 (first in the EU) |
| Malaysia | 16 | Account ban rolling out from 2026 |
| Indonesia | 16 | Minor accounts being deactivated in stages during 2026 |
| UAE | 15 | In force |
| Turkey | 15 | In force |
| Portugal | 16 | Legislation approved in 2026 |
| Spain | 16 | Proposed |
| Norway | 16 | Bill expected by the end of 2026 |
| Slovenia | 16 | Draft legislation |
| Austria | 14 | Under consideration |
Where it is already in force
Australia is the landmark case: since December 2025 major platforms must block accounts for anyone under 16, with the platforms, not parents, responsible for verifying age. Turkey and the UAE already restrict under-15s, and Malaysia and Indonesia are switching their under-16 rules on through 2026, deactivating existing minor accounts in stages. France is the first EU member to adopt a ban, targeting under-15s, with new signups blocked from September 2026.
Where it is coming or still debated
Europe is where the map is filling in fastest. Portugal approved its own under-16 legislation in 2026, Spain has an under-16 ban in progress, Norway plans a bill by the end of the year, Slovenia is drafting one, and Austria is weighing a lower threshold at 14. Expect this section to move quickly, because once one EU country acts, its neighbours tend to follow.
The other model: age checks instead of an age ban
Not every country writes an explicit under-X ban. Some instead require platforms to verify the age of all users, which reaches the same place from a different direction. The United Kingdom now enforces age checks under its Online Safety Act, and its regulators have even looked at how VPNs fit into age verification. In the United States there is no single national rule, but a patchwork of state laws plus a federal effort: the KIDS Act that passed the House would push age checks across much of the web. The practical result is the same demand to prove who you are before you can log in.
This is where the privacy debate meets everyday tools. When access to ordinary services depends on handing over ID, people who care about staying anonymous look for ways to reduce their exposure, and a VPN is often the first step because it hides your IP and location. A VPN does not fill in an ID upload for you, and it will not defeat a verified account, but it keeps a site from trivially tying your browsing to a real-world location. As more countries gate the internet behind an age check, the value of controlling that one layer only grows.
