NEW RESTRICTIONS TARGETING access to social media for children under 15 are  set to be introduced across Europe.

The new legislation will target access to social media alongside AI chatbots and online gaming. 

It comes as online safety forms a key issue for EU president Ursula von der Leyen in the annual State of the European Union address.

For children under the age of 15, there would also be a tiered system of access under parental supervision.

Bans on addictive design features such as so-called infinite scrolling will also be considered.

The EU has faced pressure from member states including France, Denmark and Greece for action across the 27-nation bloc.

More than 20 countries around the world have now taken steps to block or restrict children going online on social media.

Australia became the first country to introduce a blanket ban on social media for under-16s in 2025.

However, it is not clear if the ban is effective as a report from the country’s safety commissioner found that 70% of parents surveyed said their kids had active social media accounts.

Greece announced this April that it will ban social media access for under-15s from January 2027.

Austria and Slovenia are drafting legislation to prohibit access for under-14s and under-15s.

In France, parliament approved legislation this summer to ban social media for under-15s, but the Constitutional Council rejected it on freedom of expression grounds.

In 2023, the European Union’s Digital Services Act, which will crack down on the availability of illegal content and enforce stronger moderation on large platforms.

In 2024 Ireland followed this with the Online Safety Code, a set of rules to regulate potentially illegal content on video-sharing platforms.

Despite these measures, recent reports from CyberSafe Kids showed that 70% of Irish children aged 8-12 still have social media accounts.

Speaking to The Journal in July, European commissioner Micheal McGrath ruled out an outright age-based ban for children using social media.

He instead described a “graduated approach” in regulating young people’s access to social media will be rolled out by Europe.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin backed a UK decision to ban social media for under 16s, stating that “social media is the public health issue of our time, and governments have to act.”

He added: “It would be very preferable if, at European Union level, we could arrive at a decision in terms of banning social media for children, and the precise mechanisms around that.”

Von der Leyen will introduce the proposed restrictions today with legislation being presented on Thursday.