Brussels pauses national social media bans for children for a year

The freeze covers Austria's planned ban and runs to 28 July 2027. The Commission wants member states to back its EU-wide Kids Act instead.

Brussels has paused national bans on children's social media, including Austria's, for twelve months. The European Commission took the decision on 29 October. That follows the Kids Act it proposed in September, a law that would set one uniform standard for the whole bloc, with different limits for children under 13 and under 15.

The Commission says the pause keeps the single market whole. Spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters member states must now focus on the Kids Act negotiations. "We need to now focus on the negotiations of the EU Kids Act," he said. Without one EU rule, platforms would face a patchwork of national laws they could not follow, the Commission argued.

The Kids Act bans social media for children under 13. It restricts access for those under 15 and sets 15 as the minimum age to open an account in the whole EU. Platforms, including makers of video games and AI companions, must meet safety-by-design rules. The burden of proof is reversed: providers must show their services are age-appropriate and safe by design. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said this puts parents back in the driving seat.

Austria already has a law in the works. In July 2026, Vienna notified Brussels of a draft that sets the minimum age for TikTok, Instagram and YouTube at 14. The standstill runs until 28 July 2027, so the law can enter into force at the earliest then without risking an infringement procedure. The government in Vienna says it will keep moving the law through parliament so the ban can start on the day the freeze ends.

Austrian State Secretary Alexander Pröll called it unacceptable for Brussels to block national laws without presenting a completed European solution of its own. Greece and Denmark refuse to wait for the EU-wide law; they keep pushing their own bans.