The announcement was made on Friday 27 February by the Polish Education Minister, Barbara Nowacka. The majority party in Poland’s coalition government is preparing a law that would ban young people under the age of 15 from using social media, with the possibility of fining platforms up to 6% of their turnover if their services remain accessible to those under 15. They would also be required to check the age of their users.
“We are not interested in the passports of technology giants. We are interested in the safety of Polish children, and it is quite clear that no one has the right to threaten the future, development and safety of children and young people”, Barbara Nowacka told Reuters.
The Minister did not specify the technical details of this ban, or whether Poland intends to use the application set up by the Commission for this purpose (see EUROPE 13795/6).
Several other European governments, including Denmark, Greece, France and Spain, are now considering similar restrictions (see EUROPE 13812/10), arguing that social media is harmful or addictive for minors. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)