Since 2023, many countries and subdivisions across the globe have passed or proposed laws to require age verification for parts of the internet, including social media services, social networks, devices, and other digital services with the intention of protecting young people from harmful and illegal content. Most of the passed laws or bills have the age verification process done through handing over a government-issued ID, a facial scan or credit card over in order to prove that they are not underage, with the process done with third-party age verification providers.
These laws and proposals vary greatly, with some of them restricting access only to certain features or distinguishing between different users online, which could lead to companies requiring age verification to comply with such restrictions as the Kids Online Safety Act, or banning users under a certain age, which is the approach of the Online Safety Amendment in Australia which fully prohibits anyone under 16 years old from holding social media accounts. A few nations, such as Pakistan, have proposed punishing those who allow minors to access these services.
Despite these laws being introduced mostly for child protection reasons, they have received criticism and backlash from the general public and organizations that focus on digital and civil rights for normalizing mass surveillance and restricting freedom of speech through the elimination of anonymous accounts. Other organizations such as UNICEF have opposed these laws on grounds that such laws may backfire, constitute violations of freedom of speech and privacy rights, and because there are better ways of protecting children online.
These laws have also been bypassed by technologies such as VPNs, which have seen a significant amount of new users in countries where such laws are enforced. While these laws typically only apply in their respective countries, some online platforms have made their age verification policies global, such as Roblox and Discord, which require age verification for certain features to close said loopholes to avoid receiving a lawsuit.
Despite recent backlash over Internet censorship, there have been no real-life protests regarding age verification. Critics worry that media outlets such as BBC and CNN will silence these views.
Background There were attempts to enact online age verification laws before Australia's social media ban, such as the UK's Digital Economy Act 2017, which was passed on 27 April 2017, yet later went unenforced, South Korea's shutdown law, which was passed in 2011 and repealed in 2021, and Australia's Online Safety Act 2021, where age verification was planned but later scrapped. All of these attempts failed due to free speech concerns, large protests and outcry.
On 26 October 2023, the UK's Online Safety Act was passed and went into effect on 25 July 2025. In 2024, The Anxious Generation was published by Jonathan Haidt. This book then became the catalyst for Australia's Online Safety Amendment, which outlawed the usage of social media for individuals under 16. As a result of these laws and proposals, age verification laws subsequently started being introduced in other countries.
In the United States, legislation regarding social media age verification at the state level began in March 2023, when Utah passed the Utah Social Media Regulation Act. The bills, which were challenged due to First Amendment concerns, have not taken effect.
Laws about social media age restrictions Many of the laws regarding social media age verification revolve around setting a minimum age to have an account on social media platforms, with the youngest proposed minimum age set at 12 by Trinidad and Tobago (cf. the minimum age of the COPPA law from the United States, which is 13) and the oldest being 18 set by Zimbabwe. Neither of these examples gives an exception with parental consent, with most countries (such as the UAE, Turkey and Greece) setting the minimum age at either 15 or (in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Spain) at 16. Some of the proposed or passed laws that set a minimum age for social media allow exceptions with parental consent, such as those in Brazil (set minimum age of 16 with parental consent exception), Denmark (set minimum age of 15, parental consent from 13), Portugal and the European Union (set minimum age of 16 with parental consent from 13).
Countries and subdivisions with laws in effect
Australia
In November 2024, Australia's federal parliament passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act, which requires social media companies such as Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) to take reasonable steps to prohibit minors under the age of 16 from owning accounts. YouTube was originally excluded; however, it was later included and companies that do not comply can be fined up to 50million AUD and is enforced by the eSafety Commissioner. The ban came into effect on 10 December 2025. Australia then became the first country in the world to ban social media, banning platforms YouTube, TikTok, X, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitch, Kick, Threads and Reddit for individuals under 16. This meant that anyone over 16 must verify their age using methods such as facial scan or ID in order to create, log in to or continue using accounts by 10 December 2025.
On 9 March 2026, Australia became the second country in the world to enforce age verification on social networks such as adult sites, search engines, online platforms like X that have allowed harmful content, online chats from Xbox, PlayStation and even on games such as GTA. Apps rated 18+ and AI Chatbots that allow explicit material also became affected by this enforced age verification.
In March 2026, it was reported that over 310,000 accounts owned by children under 16 have been deactivated and blocked by the age filters.
On 27 June 2026, the Australian government introduced amendments to strengthen enforcement of its under-16 social media ban, including increasing the maximum penalty for platforms that fail to take reasonable steps to exclude children to 99million AUD and expanding the age verification to app stores. The proposed changes would also expand the powers of the eSafety Commissioner to compel documents and obtain information from platforms and third-party age verification providers. The amendments were referred to an eight-week Senate inquiry after opposition parties delayed their passage, meaning the increased penalties and expanded powers had not yet taken effect. The proposed changes followed reports that many children continued to access restricted platforms despite the ban, with eSafety reporting that 7 in 10 children still held accounts on restricted platforms when the ban began on services including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.
Brazil In September 2025, Brazil passed the Digital Statute for Children and Adolescents that would require social media companies to implement age verification and link accounts under 16 with their parents and only allow children access to content that is intended for them. The law also requires parental consent to download apps for underage individuals aged between 12 and 18 years old and bans lootboxes in video games similar to a law enacted in Belgium in 2018, with the exception that it also bans digital rewards, the digital receiving of either virtual or real money, and in-app purchases. If platforms do not comply, they can be fined up to 50 million BRL.
The law came into effect on 17 March 2026, resulting in Brazil becoming the second country overall, and the first non-English-speaking and Latin American country to ban social media and all online platforms and social networking services, which includes various live-streaming and social media platforms such as VK, Telegram, Bilibili, among others, for individuals under 16 without parental consent, and forces them to verify their age through ID or facial scans. It also became the third country in the world to enforce age verification on social networks such as adult sites, search engines, online platforms like X which allow harmful content, online chats from Xbox, PlayStation, and even on games such as GTA and mobile apps rated 18+. Due to the law banning lootboxes, digital rewards, in-app purchases, and digital receiving of money, either virtual or real, for those under 18, many video games, apps such as Roblox, Minion Rush, Mario Kart Tour, EA Sports FC, Counter Strike, Genshin Impact, Fortnite and more have restricted in-app purchases or even entire games for non-verified users.
China
China already has its own strict Internet censorship, such as the Great Firewall that blocks certain foreign websites including YouTube, Wikipedia, and Google, as well as the restriction of VPNs that bypass these blocks. Laws mandating ID and real-name verification have also been enacted in the country. These laws must be followed in order to create accounts on platforms such as Bilibili, Douyin, and Kuaishou. Since 2 August 2023, China has adopted the Youth Anti-Addiction System, also known as , which cuts off internet access for individuals under 18 between 22:00 and 6:00. Time limits include up to 40 minutes for those under 8, 1 hour for those aged 8–15, and 2 hours maximum for 16-17 year olds per day. Minor Mode came into force in January 2024. Since September 2021, those under 18 will only be allowed to play online games on weekends and legal holidays between 20:00 and 21:00.
European Union (age verification)
In compliance with the EU's Digital Service Act, and the Republic of Ireland's Online Safety Code, the social media platform X has taken steps to lock "certain types" of content behind age verification since 28 July 2025. These steps include the assurance of one's age based on extant indications such as account creation dates, legacy verification and prior acts of age verification. Alternatively, when these indications do not exist, email addresses and social connections are used to estimate age. The platform has also planned two user-involved "secure, privacy-respecting" options that will give one a choice of either taking a live selfie or submitting a government ID, both of which will estimate their age. These measures are expected to arrive in the coming weeks. Vimeo has also blocked users in the European Union from accessing certain features or types of content not suitable for younger audiences without age verification in September 2025, in order to protect these younger audiences from accessing "potentially harmful" content.
In January 2026, TikTok announced plans to introduce age verification technology in the European Union within the coming weeks, with its system being based on the analysis of behavioural signals, profile information, and posted videos, in order to better comply with regional regulations and to better distinguish and ban accounts belonging to those under 13. Flagged accounts, rather than being spontaneously banned upon detection, will be reviewed by specialist moderators. Ban appeals will be done by an age-estimating facial scan, provided by digital identification service company Yoti, as well as the presentation of one's credit card and government ID.