US Adults Favor Ban on Social Media for Under‑16s Amid Global Push

A Pew Research Center survey released on July 1 found that 56 % of U.S. adults support prohibiting children under 16 from using social‑media platforms, rising to 65 % among parents. The poll shows bipartisan backing, with 59 % of Republicans and 54 % of Democrats in favor.

The United States has more than a dozen states with youth‑social‑media restrictions and hundreds of pending bills. Recent jury verdicts in New Mexico and California held Meta liable for harms to minors, awarding multi‑million‑dollar damages. At the same time, regulators in the U.S., U.K., and the EU have issued warnings that big‑tech firms are not doing enough to comply with child‑safety laws.

Australia led the way in late 2025 by enacting an under‑16 ban on major platforms, imposing fines up to US$33 million for non‑compliance. The policy has inspired similar moves across Europe: France, Greece, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Germany, and the United Kingdom are drafting or implementing bans or stricter age‑verification requirements, with the U.K. Online Safety Act mandating verification by July 2025. The European Union is also working on broader digital‑fairness legislation targeting addictive design and teen protection.

Age‑verification methods under debate range from facial‑age estimation and photo‑ID matching to financial‑proxy checks, raising privacy concerns, especially for LGBTQ+ users. Critics warn that biometric data and government‑issued IDs could create extensive surveillance databases.

Overall, public opinion, legal actions, and regulatory pressure are converging on a worldwide effort to restrict under‑age access to social‑media services and to tighten age‑verification standards.