Meloni says banning kids from social media is not a solution on its own

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday that her government would not take the initiative to introduce a social media ban for teens, breaking from the approach taken by Britain and France. “I am not against a social media ban for under-16s, but I am not either convinced that this proposal alone can solve the problem because that type of ban can be easily circumvented,” she told reporters at the end of the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains.

The comments position Italy as the most prominent holdout among major European governments on age-based bans, which have become the default policy response to growing concerns about children’s mental health and online safety.

Platforms, not parents

Meloni argued that bans risk “partially transfer the problem on families” and that restrictions are ineffective unless governments put more pressure on platforms to “take their responsibilities.” The framing shifts the debate from policing children’s access to demanding structural changes from the companies that profit from engagement.

While insisting she was not opposed to an under-16 ban in principle, Meloni said her government has decided not to present a decree or bill, instead letting lawmakers in parliament lead the discussion. Several Italian parties have introduced bills to restrict minors’ access to social media, but none has been adopted.

The European rush to restrict

Earlier this week, Britain announced it would ban under-16s from social media, a measure Prime Minister Keir Starmer hopes to legislate before Christmas and implement in early 2027. The restrictions are expected to extend beyond traditional platforms into gaming apps and AI chatbots, the broadest scope yet proposed by a major democracy.

France will implement its own ban for under-15s later this year, with enforcement beginning in September. Canada has also moved to restrict under-16s, with its Digital Safety Act covering social media and AI chatbots alike.

But early evidence from Australia, which passed an under-16 ban in December, suggests enforcement is harder than legislation. The Australian government has accused Meta, TikTok, and YouTube of failing to comply, lending weight to Meloni’s argument that bans without platform cooperation are hollow.

The G7 compromise

The G7 leaders, including US President Donald Trump, endorsed a declaration on protecting children online that makes no mention of banning access to social media. The US had previously expressed concerns about the British ban, warning against one-size-fits-all measures.

The declaration calls for safety-by-design principles, age-appropriate recommender systems, and action on AI-generated child sexual abuse material. It aligns more closely with the EU’s Digital Services Act, which puts content-moderation and transparency obligations on platforms, than with the outright bans favoured by London and Paris.

Published June 17, 2026 - 6:37 pm UTC

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