Poland Plans Social Media Ban for Children Under 15 Years Old

Poland is moving ahead with a new legislation that would ban social media for children under 15 years old, setting the stage for a potential battle with some of the biggest US tech companies.

The draft law, whose outline will be presented by the ruling Civic Coalition party on Friday, would fine social media platforms if their services remain accessible to younger children and hold them responsible for verifying their users’ ages, Education Minister Barbara Nowacka told Bloomberg in an interview.

“We see the mental health of children and young people, we see a decline in their intellectual competence,” said Nowacka. The size of the penalties that companies would have to pay for violations is still under discussion, according to the minister. She expects the law to be in force by early 2027.

In considering a ban, Warsaw joins the ranks of other European governments including Denmark, France, Spain and the UK, which have all threatened to restrict the access of millions of young users to services regulators call harmful and addictive.

That trend may lead to a confrontation with US President Donald Trump and his influential allies among social media companies including Meta Platforms Inc. or Elon Musk’s X. Some of them have already voiced frustration with attempts to restrict access to their services for teenagers after Australia first imposed the ban late last year.

Any moves which might alienate Washington are sensitive for Poland, a frontline member of NATO’s eastern flank which hosts US troops. American companies have already criticized a plan to tax digital services which was proposed by the country’s Ministry of Digital Affairs earlier this month.

Nowacka said she doesn’t see the bill in terms of geopolitics. “To be honest, who’s the owner of this or that platform is absolutely secondary,” said the minister, who’s a member of the parliamentary group working on the law.

She stressed that government action was necessary as platforms “don’t follow their own regulations” and don’t verify users’ age.

“We need to take preventive measures, and not wonder whether this or that country will look at it a certain way,” Nowacka said. “I think it’s in the interest of every country to protect its children.”