Protecting children on social media – Views on age limits

This publication presents findings from an EU-wide survey on public attitudes to children’s use of social media. It presents people’s key concerns and their views on the minimum age limits for accessing social media platforms. The survey draws on the views of both teenagers and adults – those most directly affected. The findings offer a useful evidence base for policy discussions on social media age restrictions in the EU.

Cover page of FRA's report on protecting children on social media

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The survey asked people in the EU whether they consider that the use of social media should legally only be allowed after a certain age, thus legally prohibiting it below a certain age.

The survey question asked: ‘How old should a child be before they are legally allowed to access social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram or Pinterest, or should there be no limitations by age?’

Results

The majority of people in the EU surveyed support the legal prohibitions of social media use for children. Three in four (74 %) of respondents think that social media should be prohibited for children at a certain age. However, there are different views on the age from which access to social media should be allowed.

When presented with ages at which children should have social media access, respondents most often indicated restrictions until the age of 16 (16 % of respondents) or the age of 18 (also 16 % of respondents). Furthermore, significant numbers of respondents indicated that restrictions should apply until the age 15 (13 %) or 14 (11 %). Very few respondents consider that social media use should be allowed from age 10 or below (3 %).

Conversely, just over one in 10 (13 %) would not like to see a legal restriction. The majority of these indicate that it should be left to the parents to decide. According to 5 % of respondents, it depends on the social media platform, and 7 % say that they do not know or would like to see other measures. These results apply to the general adult population in the survey (respondents age 18 and above).

While the above results hold for the population age 18 and over, those aged between 15 and 17 years have slightly different views. The majority of teenagers surveyed think that social media should be restricted until a certain age, namely until age 12 (13 %), age 13 (11 %), age 14 (15 %) and 15 years of age (16 %). Less often, teenagers think social media should only be allowed when they turn 16 (6 %), 17 (0 %) or 18 (4 %). The 15–17-year-olds interviewed also more often indicated that it depends on the social media platform. This was selected as a response by 11 % of teenagers compared to only 5 % of adults. The results are visualised in Figures 3a and 3b.

Figure 3a – Social media prohibition for children

How old should a child be before they are legally allowed to access social media platforms or should there be no age limitation? – Respondents aged 18 and above

NB: Number of respondents aged 18 and above: 25,922.

For methodological reasons, the question for Figure 3 was asked in the Eurobarometer survey before the question on concerns (Figures 1 and 2) was asked so as not to negatively influence the responses to the question on age limitations. Question: How old should a child be before they are legally allowed to access social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram or Pinterest, or should there be no limitations by age?

Source: FRA, 2026

Figure 3b – Social media prohibition for children

How old should a child be before they are legally allowed to access social media platforms or should there be no age limitation? – Respondents aged 15-17