- Austria plans to ban the use of social media for children under the age of fourteen.
- By the end of June, a law determining the technical implementation of the restriction should be enacted.
- A new school subject, media and democracy, will be created, and Latin classes will be reduced.
The Austrian government agreed on Friday to introduce a ban on the use of social media for children under the age of 14. By the end of June, he wants to draft a law on the technical implementation of this restriction. As part of the curriculum reform for higher general education schools (AHS), a separate subject called media and democracy will be created and Latin classes will be reduced. Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler stated this at a press conference on Friday, TASR reports with reference to the APA agency.
According to Babler, social media platforms have negative effects on young people. He emphasized that there are also age restrictions in other areas, for example for protection against harmful substances. Other information providers also have “clear rules” to protect young people from harmful content, which now need to be implemented in the digital space.
Minister of Education Christoph Wiederkehr stated at the press conference that you have to learn how to use social media. In addition to the home, the place where this has to happen is the school, which is why a “major reform of the curriculum” is going to take place.
However, the government did not reach an agreement regarding the demand of the People’s Party (ÖVP) for the introduction of the so-called real-name system, where users of internet services, forums or social networks must register their accounts under their real name and provide identification data. In this way, cyberbullying and the spread of misinformation should be limited and responsibility for published content should be introduced.
However, critics point to the loss of anonymity, which is crucial for whistleblowers or political activists in authoritarian states. Another risk is the leakage of personal data from providers’ databases, which can lead to identity theft.
In the European Union, the trend of introducing stricter age limits for social networks is growing, inspired mainly by Australia’s recent decision to ban access for children under 16. In November 2025, the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution proposing a single age limit of 16 for the entire EU, while children aged 13-15 would need parental consent.
