Youth social media restrictions spread as Greece passes bill banning use by children under 15 
Research finds links between addictive social media use, repeated short-form video viewing and poorer mental health
Lawsuits against TikTok and other platforms mount, broadening debate to regulation of addictive algorithms

Greece is banning social media use by children under 15. As concerns grow over the effects of addiction and exposure to harmful content on young people’s mental health, efforts to impose statutory restrictions on minors’ access to social media are spreading worldwide. In particular, a growing body of recent research suggests that addictive usage patterns and repetitive consumption of short-form content are more closely linked to mental health than time spent alone, bringing into focus the need to regulate addictive design features themselves, including recommendation algorithms and infinite scrolling.

Greece’s Social Media Restrictions

According to Reuters on the 24th (all dates hereafter are local time), the Greek parliament passed a bill the previous day banning social media use by children under 15 starting January 1 next year. The bill’s core provisions require social media platforms to verify users’ ages and impose heavy penalties on companies that violate the rules. Commenting on the measure, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed, “The addictive design of some apps and business models that monetize users’ attention must now come to an end.”

Such efforts to restrict young people’s social media use by law are spreading worldwide. Notably, on December 10 last year, Australia became the first country to implement a law banning children under 16 from using major social media services. The law requires major platform operators, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, to prevent users under 16 from holding accounts, with fines of up to AUD 49.5 million (approximately USD 35.4 million) for companies that fail to comply adequately.

Similar Restrictions Spread Worldwide

Similar restrictions are also being introduced in Southeast Asia. On March 6, the Indonesian government announced regulations restricting social media access for children under 16, and on the 28th of the same month began phasing out accounts held by users in that age group on high-risk platforms. The restrictions cover not only major social media services such as TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, but also the online gaming platform Roblox. Malaysia likewise announced plans last November to ban social media use by children under 16 and began implementing restrictions on new account registrations by that age group in earnest in June.

A push for tighter regulation is also evident in the Middle East. In April, Türkiye’s parliament passed a bill banning social media use by children under 15. The bill also imposes new obligations on digital platform operators beyond social media, including online game software companies. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government likewise approved a resolution in June setting the minimum age for social media use at 15. Accordingly, children under 15 in the UAE are prohibited from opening and using personal social media accounts, and users in that age group are also restricted from accessing platforms’ full features.

Table 1. Countries’ Restrictions on Youth Social Media Use

EU Also Steps Up Efforts to Establish Statutory Safeguards

Legislative efforts to restrict young people’s social media use are also continuing within the European Union (EU). In February, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced plans to block social media use by children under 16, while Denmark’s government reached an agreement with major political parties last November on banning social media use by children under 15. Austria’s government also reached a political agreement in March to restrict social media use by children under 14 and is working to define its age-verification system and the scope of platforms subject to regulation. Portugal has begun drafting legislation requiring parental consent for social media use by children under 16, while Italy, Slovenia and other countries are discussing raising the minimum age for minors’ access to social media. France also passed a bill that would completely block children under 15 from opening social media accounts, but its implementation has been temporarily halted by a ruling that it is unconstitutional.

Common EU-wide rules are also being developed. Last month, the European Commission announced plans to pursue an “EU Kids Act” that would completely ban social media use by children under 13 across all 27 member states. It is also developing an age-verification system that would allow users to prove they are adults without directly providing personal information to platforms. The measures are seen as an effort to supplement existing obligations to protect minors under the Digital Services Act (DSA) and reduce potential enforcement confusion arising from differences in individual member states’ regulations.

Social Media’s Impact on Mental Health

Countries worldwide are restricting young people’s social media use because of growing recognition that it can negatively affect their mental health. Numerous academic studies have also examined the issue. For example, researchers at Imperial College London analyzed longitudinal data collected between 2014 and 2018 from 2,350 students at 31 schools in London and identified an association between time spent on social media and adolescent mental health. The team compared students’ digital device habits and mental health when they were aged 11–12 and 13–15. They found that children who used social media for three hours or more a day were more likely to exhibit symptoms of anxiety and depression than those who used it for 30 minutes or less. The association with depressive symptoms was particularly pronounced among girls.

Professor Silja Kosola of the University of Helsinki’s Faculty of Medicine in Finland also analyzed the impact of addictive social media design on adolescent mental health in a paper published in the international journal PLOS Medicine. According to the paper, adolescents are vulnerable to short-form videos and notification features that provide immediate rewards because the limbic system, which processes emotions and rewards, develops before the frontal cortex, which is responsible for impulse control. Excessive social media use is also associated with reduced sleep and physical activity, anxiety symptoms and body dissatisfaction, while personalized algorithms can lead to repeated social comparison. The researchers therefore recommended going beyond simple age restrictions to regulate platform design itself, including infinite scrolling and recommendation algorithms that encourage addiction.

Risks of Short-Form Content Also Draw Attention

A growing number of recent studies have focused on the risks of so-called “short-form addiction,” or repeatedly watching short videos on services such as TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels. According to a paper published in March in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, researchers from institutions including the Chinese University of Hong Kong pooled data from 96,676 people across 58 existing studies and found significant correlations between short-form content use and indicators of poorer mental health, including depression, anxiety and stress. In particular, they concluded that addictive usage patterns involving an inability to control one’s own use were more closely associated with poorer mental health than time spent alone. Similar concerns were raised in a meta-analysis published last September in Psychological Bulletin, an international journal of the American Psychological Association (APA). Analysis of data from 98,299 participants across 71 studies found that higher levels of short-form content use were associated with lower overall cognitive functioning, with relatively strong correlations for attention and impulse inhibition.

Meanwhile, legal disputes over the addictive design of short-form platforms are expanding in the United States and some other countries. On October 8, 2024, attorneys general from 14 U.S. states, including California and New York, filed separate lawsuits alleging that TikTok encouraged excessive use among young people and harmed their mental health. They alleged that TikTok used addictive features to hold users’ attention for extended periods while misleading consumers by overstating the platform’s safety. A series of damages lawsuits have also been brought by young people themselves. According to Reuters on January 27, TikTok reached a settlement shortly before trial with K.G.M., a 19-year-old California woman who alleged that social media addiction during her childhood had caused depression and suicidal thoughts. In June, it also agreed in principle to a settlement with R.K.C., a 15-year-old from Florida who alleged that using social media from around age 8 had led to sleep deprivation and symptoms of depression and anxiety. In August, it agreed to settle three additional damages lawsuits involving harm to young people’s mental health.