The Austrian government has agreed to ban social media for children under the age of 14, it announced Friday.
It expects to have a proposal drafted by the end of June. The government is seeking to move forward with a solution quickly “because we are aware that it will still take some time at EU level,” Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler said.
Babler said the government wants to introduce concrete rules for social media platforms and also pursue an EU-wide age restriction through the Digital Services Act.
The move comes as the EU and member countries are scrambling to find solutions to protect children from the harms of social media. Countries including Spain, France, Denmark and Portugal are already moving ahead with plans for age restrictions.
Proponents argue that age-related restrictions setting a minimum age for the most addictive social media platforms are vital to protect children’s physical and mental health.
Critics say that bans are ineffective and are detrimental to privacy because they require users to verify themselves online.
Human rights adviser Michael O’Flaherty, the commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe, told POLITICO that bans are neither “proportionate nor necessary.”
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