Will Luxembourg ban social media for children under 16?

Luxembourg’s parliament this week debated a ban on social media use for young people, after Australia became the first country in the world to prohibit under-16s from social media, with legislation that came into force in December.

The Chamber’s discussion focused on online harms, the challenges of enforcing age checks and whether Luxembourg should act nationally if the European Union does not agree on age-restriction rules in the coming months.

Justice Minister Elisabeth Margue told MPs that the government would still prefer a European level solution to regulate social media access for minors, arguing that harmful content does not respect national borders.

“As a government, we have expressed our fundamental support for a ban on social media for young people. However, we want to implement this at the European level, as we believe that harmful content knows no borders. Should we fail to implement such a ban at the EU level, we will continue our work nationally,” Margue told the Luxemburger Wort in an interview on Wednesday.

Margue said that while no final age has been set, the idea of restricting social media access for younger users is being taken seriously, and Luxembourg could proceed with national legislation within six to 12 months if there is no EU framework.

The Luxembourg Times took to the streets to get the views of people in the capital about limiting young people’s social media use.