More than two months have passed since Australia enacted legislation banning children under 16 from using social media, igniting global debate about whether other countries should follow suit.
The Australian law requires major social media platforms to implement strict age-verification measures or face fines of up to AUD 30 million (approximately R338 million). The move positions Australia as the first country to pass such legislation, though several nations are now moving in a similar direction.
Global movement gathers momentum
France’s parliament approved a bill in January 2026 that would ban under-15s from social media starting 1 September, pending Senate approval. The country’s media regulator Arcom will determine which platforms are covered, likely including Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and X. Under the Digital Services Act, platforms could face fines of up to 6% of their global annual turnover for violations.
Spain announced a ban on social media access for under-16s in February 2026, while the United Kingdom launched consultations in January on implementing an Australian-style under-16 prohibition. Norway proposed similar legislation in June 2025, with plans to bar social media services from offering access to children under 15.
Landmark addiction lawsuit underway
The first major legal challenge to social media companies over youth addiction began in Los Angeles Superior Court in February 2026. The case, brought by a 20-year-old woman identified only as K.G.M., alleges that Meta’s Instagram and Google’s YouTube deliberately designed addictive algorithms that caused severe mental health harm during her teenage years.
The plaintiff’s lawyer, Mark Lanier, argued in opening statements that platforms engineer addiction in ways comparable to casinos and drugs. K.G.M. started using social media at age 10, and the lawsuit claims constant notifications and product design created compulsive engagement.
The case serves as a test for hundreds of similar lawsuits pending in Los Angeles. Snapchat and TikTok, originally named as defendants, have already reached settlements.
South African perspectives
Emma Sadleir, chief executive of the Digital Law Company, expressed strong support for similar legislation in South Africa during an interview on Iono FM’s Hot Business Interview with Jeremy Maggs.
“Our children are exposed to these kinds of harmful content,” Sadleir said, referencing a French parliamentary report that described TikTok as “a production line of distress and a spiral of harmful content.”
Sadleir said her company has been developing a draft law for South Africa. What appeals to her most about Australia’s approach is where it places responsibility.
“In South Africa, if a teenager goes and buys alcohol, then the teenager is committing a criminal offence,” she explained. Australia’s law reverses this by holding companies accountable rather than criminalising children who create accounts.
However, Sadleir noted that international companies already ignore South African regulations like the Protection of Personal Information Act, with platforms like WhatsApp and TikTok claiming they don’t fall under South African jurisdiction.
“Until our government is strong enough to stand up and say, if you don’t comply with South African laws, we’re going to cut you off in South Africa, then they’ll just carry on doing whatever the hell they want,” she said.
Reader responses
Nova News asked readers across 10 community papers whether South Africa should follow Australia’s lead. The majority supported implementing a social media ban for children under 16.
Adele Harris, commenting on the PE Express Facebook page, advocated for raising the restriction even higher to age 19.
“Get your kid to do simple things. Sew on a button, read for an hour, show you what is a plant and what is a weed in the garden, boil an egg, say their times table or tell you how to do CPR,” Harris wrote, challenging parents to test their children’s practical abilities.
ALSO READ: YouTube attacks Australia’s world-first social media ban for under-16s
“We are losing this very generation to the filth that runs the internet and social media,” she added, though she clarified that “technology is not the evil. The evil lies in the abuse of technology.”
Cape Town parent Arlene Alexander shared her experience implementing similar restrictions with her four children on Tyger Burger’s Facebook page.
“My eldest son only got a mobile phone when he was in matric aged 17. We do however not approve of Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. My eldest only got those platforms when he was 18,” Alexander said.
She believes the approach works with committed parenting: “My kids know how to have conversations with people and socialise in a group without devices. When they’re around their cousins they have influenced them to play like kids and not be on their mobile phones. My kids go to the library and still read physical books.”
Alexander maintains oversight even as her children age: “I still have parental controls on my son’s phone and he’s 19. Every time he downloads a game it notifies me.”
READ MORE HERE: Zuckerberg to Testify in Landmark Social Media Trial
