Banning social media for minors is pointless. Just look at Estonia

The ruling by the French Constitutional Council overturning the law banning social media for children under the age of fifteen is not merely of political significance for France: it represents a setback to the trend, currently prevalent in Europe, of viewing age restrictions as the primary strategy for protecting children from online dangers. According to the Palais-Royal, the law – which was due to come into force on 1 September and would have made France the first European country to adopt a ban of this kind – constitutes a violation of freedom of expression that is “neither necessary, nor appropriate, nor proportionate”. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is reportedly already working on a "legally sounder" bill, but an increasing number of analysts and experts are pointing out that a blanket ban is, in any case, not the appropriate tool for protecting teenagers from unwittingly using these platforms. Meanwhile, the European Commission is preparing to present, after the summer, a proposal to ban the use of social media by children under the age of thirteen, with gradual restrictions up to the age of sixteen, whilst leaving member states some leeway to introduce additional measures.

Within the European Union, there is only one country that is openly opposed to bans: Estonia, where for years now the need to protect teenagers has been balanced against the realisation that removing social media from their lives is an impractical option. “Protecting children online is a complex challenge and, in our view, there is no single universal solution,” Anna-Liisa Pärnalaas, head of digital development at the Estonian Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs, explains to Il Foglio. “Age-based restrictions offer a clear and visible response to collective concerns, but the issue is far more nuanced. A ban based solely on age is not useful for addressing the underlying challenges related to the online safety of children and young people; indeed, it could create additional risks by driving young users towards alternative platforms with even weaker safety safeguards.” Pärnalaas refers to the case of Australia, which last December became the first country to adopt a law banning under-16s from accessing social media; however, the effectiveness of this ban is being called into question by initial data: according to a report by eSafety, the Australian regulatory body for online safety, published at the end of July, eight out of ten teenagers affected by the ban continue to use social media. “Such an approach, moreover, risks diverting attention away from the design choices of the platforms, which are the root cause of much of the harm caused by social media and affect all users, not just children. From this perspective, a strategy based solely on age restrictions could reduce the pressure on service providers, with the result that the overall security of digital services would be weakened rather than improved. “The main challenge lies not in a lack of regulations but in the difficulties associated with the proper enforcement of existing ones,” the expert continues. Article 28 of the Digital Services Act requires platforms accessible to young people to adopt appropriate safety measures and prohibits the display of profiling-based advertising when the user is identified as a minor. “These rules have come into force relatively recently, but it is true that their implementation could already be more effective. We have called on the European Commission to strengthen its oversight of the DSA and to conclude ongoing proceedings more promptly”, emphasises Pärnalaas, who until 2025 also served as adviser on digital and cybersecurity policies at the Permanent Representation of Estonia to the EU. “The review of the DSA is scheduled for 2027 and will provide an important opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the current regulatory framework, identify any gaps and determine whether additional measures are needed to better protect children.”

But it is above all the central role of education that makes Estonia a model to which Europeans should look with greater curiosity: “The aim is not to exclude children and young people from the digital society, but to equip them with the skills and tools to participate in it more safely and responsibly,” explains the expert: “In Estonia, digital skills are integrated into our national curriculum for basic education and constitute one of the eight priority key competences.” Since 2011, for example, a course on “Media and Manipulation” has been compulsory in all upper secondary schools. From 2023, there will be a requirement – applying to primary and secondary schools as well as vocational training institutions – to provide media literacy programmes, enabling pupils to develop the skills to manage information and assess its reliability, create digital content, understand online risks and protect their privacy, personal data and identity. There are also measures relating to early childhood, explains Pärnalaas: “In this area, the development of media literacy has been added to the national curricula from September 2025, and recently, the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs has commissioned curricula on data literacy and AI for the first and second cycles of basic education, including teaching materials and methodological guidelines for teachers.” Beyond the school setting, some initiatives are aimed at families, such as “Smartly on the Web”, which provides guidance for children, parents and educators, and “Great digital adventure”, which offers an educational kit for children to help them understand the positive and negative aspects of the internet. Another often-overlooked aspect is raising awareness amongst parents, who “play a key role in shaping their children’s digital habits and can have a significant impact on their online safety”.

The idea is that strategies to protect against risks should be accompanied by efforts to highlight the benefits and opportunities that social media have brought about, particularly for teenagers: “It is unlikely that they will disappear, and the most useful question is how to minimise their harmful effects and maximise their benefits,” Eneli Kindsiko, a lecturer in Quantitative Research at the University of Tartu and a researcher at the Foresight Centre, a think tank of the Estonian Parliament, told Il Foglio. “We can start with access to information and education: a well-made YouTube video can help students visualise a historical event, observe a chemical reaction or listen to a foreign language spoken in a natural context.” But that’s not all: “Social media can be particularly valuable for young people living in remote areas, for members of minority groups, or for those who struggle to find people with similar interests and experiences in their immediate surroundings, as well as enabling the dissemination of socially useful information at a speed that few other channels can match”. The digital environment is now an essential part of young people’s social, educational and civic lives – adds the expert – “suddenly excluding them can delay the development of the skills they will need later on to function independently”.

“The issue of online safety for teenagers has become central to the political agenda across the EU, driven by legitimate concerns,” concludes Pärnalaas. “At the same time, there is a risk that simplistic solutions may fail to deliver the expected results. Any new measure must address the root causes of online threats. We expect the debate at European level to focus increasingly on striking the right balance between protection, self-determination and the accountability of platforms.” The French ruling may represent an opportunity to reorient the European strategy, and an alternative model already exists.