Social media bans for under-16s gain steam worldwide

Global Push to Ban Under-16s From Social Media Gains Momentum

A wave of government action to restrict children’s access to social media is sweeping across multiple continents, with Malaysia enforcing new rules as of June 1, the Maldives announcing a ban within a year, and lawmakers from the United Kingdom to North Carolina weighing their own restrictions.

Malaysia Leads Southeast Asia’s Enforcement Push

Malaysia on Sunday became the latest country to enforce a ban on social media accounts for children under 16, implementing its Child Protection Code under the Online Safety Act 2025. Social media platforms with at least eight million Malaysian users — including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube — must now verify users’ ages against government-issued records before allowing account registration. Platforms that fail to comply face fines of up to 10 million ringgit (approximately $2.5 million), though parents whose children circumvent the rules will not be penalized.apnews

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said age verification for existing users will be rolled out over a six-month grace period, with underage users given one month to download their data before restrictions take effect. Indonesia implemented a similar ban in late March, becoming the first Southeast Asian country to do so, affecting approximately 70 million children.usnews

Maldives, UK, and Japan Join the Movement

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu announced on Sunday that his government will restrict children under 16 from accessing certain social media platforms, with full implementation within one year. He cited grooming, cyberbullying, and content contrary to Islamic values as key concerns.presidency

In the United Kingdom, London Mayor Sadiq Khan is set to endorse a social media ban for under-16s, joining a growing chorus of Labour politicians arguing that platforms have failed to prove their services are safe for children. “Until they can prove their platforms are safe for children, a ban remains the only way to address the dangers we are currently witnessing,” Khan planned to say in a speech on Tuesday. The UK government’s online safety consultation, which closed last week after receiving over 100,000 responses, found 90 percent of the roughly 40,000 parent respondents backing a ban. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said a ban is “definitely on the table”.telegraph

However, Scotland’s Children’s Commissioner Nicola Killean cautioned that a ban “does little to tackle fundamental issues like exploitative algorithms and business models that promote harmful content,” warning it could push children toward less regulated corners of the internet and shift accountability from platforms to children.bbc

Legislative Action Spreads

Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications convened an expert panel that recommended mandatory age-based content filtering and platform risk disclosures but stopped short of calling for a blanket ban, with potential legal regulation possible as early as 2027. In North Carolina, House Bill 301 — which would ban social media accounts for children under 14 and require parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds — advanced through a Senate committee in late April after passing the House 106-6. In Newfoundland and Labrador, lawmakers unanimously supported a non-binding resolution to examine restricting social media for those under 16.biometricupdate

The UN human rights office weighed in last week, warning that banning children from social media “is no substitute for making platforms safe in the first place” and calling for safety to be embedded into platform design from the outset.un