European Commission Postpones National Social Media Bans for Children

The European Commission has postponed the implementation of national-level social media bans for children for 12 months to prevent regulatory fragmentation across the European Union. This decision follows the blocking of a draft law from Austria that attempted to ban children under 14 from social media platforms.

Brussels is instead pushing for the adoption of the EU Kids Act, a harmonized framework proposed last month. The proposed rules would ban children under 13 from social media and restrict those under 15 to limited, supervised use. The Commission aims for a unified approach to ensure effective enforcement across all member states.

Certain exceptions apply to this postponement. Greece has already passed rules drafted before September, and France is not expected to face a block because its law was notified to Brussels before the bloc-wide proposal. The Commission has not yet ruled on similar legislative proposals from Italy and Slovakia.