Overview
- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced a nationwide under-16 ban and the plan could reach parliamentary debate this week, with his remarks singling out X and TikTok though covered platforms remain unspecified.
- France’s lower house backed an under-15 cutoff and sent the measure to the Senate, while Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis voiced support and EU institutions consider a harmonized minimum age of 16.
- Australia’s law, enacted in December 2025, shows teens easily bypassing restrictions with fake birthdays, with some reporting exposure to more unfiltered content and rural youth citing lost community connections.
- Age checks tied to bans push platforms toward ID scans or biometrics, raising security concerns highlighted by Discord’s disclosure that hackers stole at least 70,000 government ID images used for verification.
- Outside Europe, South Korea’s regulator reported no concrete roadmap after a student roundtable that favored media literacy over bans, and Indian teens and experts questioned feasibility as some states explore under-16 limits.