“At the moment, governments in more than a dozen countries are trying to limit minors' access to social media.”

“These include France, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom.”

“Germany is also considering taking action.”

“Australia became the first country in the world to introduce social media bans for users under the age of 16 in late 2025.”

“Indonesia also introduced age limits in late March.”

“According to a 2025 study by the 38-member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, half of all 15-year-olds in OECD countries spent at least 30 hours a week on digital devices.”

“The problems start with potentially addictive personalized algorithms and gimmicks, such as push notifications and endless scrolling, which are designed to keep users locked on a given platform for as long as possible.”

“Beyond that, once on a platform, users can be confronted with violent or sexual content, said Kolleck.”

“Among these are physical problems such as sleeplessness and lack of movement to problems such as cyberbullying, social isolation and depression.”

“The connection between excessive or addictive smartphone use and poor academic performance, however, is relatively well documented.”

“The same goes for feelings of body dysmorphia among social media users.”

“We estimate that the prefrontal cortex isn't fully developed until a person turns 20 or maybe even their mid-20s.”

“Kolleck, for instance, describes it as a "pseudo-debate that distracts from truly effective instruments."”

“Kolleck says numerous effective measures are anchored in the European Union's Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU's legal framework for digital services, which obliges large online platforms and search engines to offer more protections for users — forcing TikTok, Instagram and others to systematically rank and lower risks, as well as demanding transparency regarding their algorithms.”

“The DSA also requires companies to provide independent researchers access to their data, allowing the outside monitors to examine how certain features or elements influence users.”

“US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly attempted to defend US tech companies against massive EU fines with the threat of punitive tariffs, poses yet another problem.”

“According to Montag, Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, offers an under-14 version of the app that only allows scrolling for 40 minutes. After that, it displays no new content.”

“TikTok already has time limits, though they are easy to turn off.”

“Children under 13 theoretically need to have a legal guardian enter a code into their device if they want to be on longer.”

“From 13 on, kids have to set their own code if they want to keep scrolling.”