Australia sparks kids' social media bans

Cyprus is moving toward a social media ban for children under 15, and officials say age checks would run through the country’s Digital Citizen app. (cyprus-mail.com) President Nikos Christodoulides said on April 16 that Cyprus would move ahead with the European Union’s age-verification plan after the European Commission said its app was technically ready. (cyprus-mail.com) (commission.europa.eu) The Cyprus plan has centered on the Digital Citizen app, which stores personal data and is not mandatory today. That has raised questions about whether a child-safety rule would end up pushing broader identity checks onto adults too. (cyprus-mail.com) Australia is the example other governments are studying because its under-16 social media restrictions are already in force. Since December 10, 2025, platforms have had to take “reasonable steps” to stop Australians under 16 from creating or keeping accounts. (esafety.gov.au) (youth.gov.au) Australia’s regulator says the rules cover platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, YouTube, Kick and Reddit, while under-16s and their parents do not face penalties. (esafety.gov.au) The enforcement problem is already visible. Cyprus Mail cited a recent report saying 61% of Australian 12-to-15-year-olds who had accounts on restricted platforms before the ban still had access afterward. (cyprus-mail.com) Europe’s push is widening beyond Cyprus. French President Emmanuel Macron convened a call with other European Union leaders and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on April 16 to coordinate a bloc-wide approach on minors and social media. (usnews.com) In the United States, Los Angeles Unified is tackling the same issue inside schools rather than through a national app or platform ban. The board voted on April 21 to require screen-time limits for each grade and subject and to encourage more paper-and-pen assignments. (nbcnews.com) The Los Angeles policy also bars district-issued devices for early education through first grade, blocks device use during lunch, recess and passing periods for elementary and middle school students, and is supposed to be in place by the 2026-27 school year. (k12dive.com) (nbclosangeles.com) What links these moves is not one law but one mechanism: age or access checks that shift responsibility onto platforms, schools or identity apps. Australia has already shown how fast that idea can spread, and how hard it is to make it stick. (reuters.com) (cyprus-mail.com)