In December 2025, Australia banned young people under 16 from having social media accounts. France, Greece, Spain, Denmark, Malaysia, Norway, India, Egypt, Canada, Türkiye, and the United Kingdom are hot on their heels. French president Emmanuel Macron said: “Banning social media for those under 15: this is what scientists recommend”. American senator Brian Schatz, author...Read More

State Rep. Brandon Guffey during a meeting of the South Carolina House of Representatives on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. Tracy Glantz tglantz@thestate.com COLUMBIA, S.C. Young teenagers in South Carolina will no longer be able to see like counts, stay up late watching autoplay videos or receive notifications for new posts on social media under a...Read More

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen recently triggered a controversy over her comments comparing children’s use of social media to smoking. Speaking about online safety, Mette Frederiksen was purportedly heard as saying, “If I had small kids today, I would rather have them smoking than allowing them to stay on their own on social media. But...Read More

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has sparked a debate after comparing children’s use of social media to smoking. While speaking about online safety and the risks associated with social media for young people, Frederiksen said that she would rather have her kids smoking than using social media. While the Danish leader made the remark earlier...Read More

Parents and family members of children targeted in a recent online bullying incident say they felt “blocked at every avenue” when they sought help from government agencies and Meta. Several Instagram pages, which appear to have been created during the school holidays, singled out children and teenagers in South Australia’s Riverland. The account shared images...Read More

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia on Monday began enforcing rules barring millions of children younger than 16 from having social media accounts, joining a global effort to tighten online safety protections for young users. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. The rules require social media platforms...Read More

Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. The head of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union says cuts to the education sector will cause more strain at a time...Read More

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia on Monday began enforcing rules barring millions of children younger than 16 from having social media accounts, joining a global effort to tighten online safety protections for young users. The rules require social media platforms with at least 8 million users including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, to implement age-verification systems...Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 1, 2026 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ CONTACT: Gov.Press@illinois.gov SPRINGFIELD – Today, Governor JB Pritzker issued the following statement following the passage of the Children’s Online Social Media Safety Act to force big tech to implement measures to...Read More

When Goldilocks ate the baby bear’s porridge, she declared it was just right. Consider this wisdom from a fairy tale. Governments across the world are trying to get things just right to make social media usage safe for children and young people. Australia’s social media ban for people under 16 came into effect on December...Read More