European social media bans for minors gain momentum

Greece this week announced it would ban minors under 15 from social media, joining a growing list of European countries clamping down on platforms seen as damaging to children’s mental health.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the legislation, which is predicted to pass this summer, would take effect next January and apply to children under the age of 15.

For marketers, the global trend is now unmistakable. Greece’s move comes on the heels of similar announcements in Spain and France. Politicians in Germany and the U.K. are also increasingly supportive of bans.

But youth attention doesn’t disappear — it migrates. Agency buyers told The Current last month that they are anticipating youth budgets will move to streaming, CTV, gaming and DOOH placements.

The long-term question, however, remains unresolved: What does media planning look like when an entire generation of adults has grown up outside the platforms marketers depend on to reach them?

Late last year, Australia became the first country to ban under-16s from accessing apps like Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. But the backlash toward social media gained even more momentum recently after a California jury found that Meta and YouTube intentionally designed addictive social media platforms.

Political momentum on these bans is increasing in tandem with people’s deteriorating views toward social media platforms, with a U.S. study finding a 50% increase between 2022 and 2024 in the number of teens who view social media’s impact as “mostly negative.”