Overview
- In early August 2026 the global debate has accelerated but only seven jurisdictions have enforceable age-restriction laws, with Australia, China, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam listed by trackers as having regimes in force.
- France passed a law in July 2026 that uses a two-stage rollout requiring new sign-ups to meet an age threshold from September 1 and mandating verification of existing under-15 accounts from January 2027, which will test how checks work in practice and whether they meet EU privacy rules.
- Early compliance reports show verification is weak: Australia estimated many under-16s kept access after its December 2025 ban and journalists report minors and parents can sidestep checks, highlighting how ID checks, shared devices and fake credentials undermine enforcement.
- Policy designs vary: some countries impose flat bans while others use parental sign-on or tiered rules like China’s different limits for under‑8, under‑14 and under‑18 users, and these choices shift trade-offs between child safety, free speech and privacy.
- In India the issue remains at the proposal stage despite state announcements, and an under-16 rule would affect roughly 360 million young people which makes enforcement, education access and equity concerns particularly acute for families who share devices or rely on social media for school and social ties.