Social media age verification trends globally as lawmakers on 4 continents push policy

Texas is readying a bill to ban social media for minors in a global trend towards age assurance.

If enacted, the bill would make Texas the second U.S. state to require age verification, after Utah, but the southern state would be implementing the most stringent state-level regulation yet seen.

The Texas bill explicitly prohibits every Texas resident under age 18 from registering for and using a social media platform. The legislation would mandate age assurance so that social media media platforms would need to verify the ages of all people creating an account.

Violations would be considered “deceptive trade practices” under the bill’s definitions, which would make social media companies liable to fines from the state’s attorney general and lawsuits for financial damages.

The Texas House has passed the bill, while the state Senate is expected to as well, reports NBC News. A spokesperson for Republican Governor Gregg Abbott said safety and online privacy remains a priority for Texan children and that he would “thoughtfully review any legislation sent to his desk that seeks to accomplish these goals.”

The online child-safety legislation has faced some major pushback. The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple CEO Tim Cook stepped in to call Abbott about the law. Under the bill, which is also known as an app-store accountability law, Apple would be required to verify the ages of iPhone or iPad users. Cook called the Texas governor to ask for changes to the legislation, or a veto if that failed, according to the WSJ.

That app marketplaces, such as Apple’s App Store, would be responsible for age verification, rather than individual apps, is down to the difficulty of passing legislation that could contravene free speech. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has said that verifying ages on the platform level is easier and helps preserve privacy as children’s ages are stored in one place rather than on every app they access.

But Apple argues that the Texas bill jeopardizes user privacy since app marketplaces would be required to collect and keep sensitive identifying information for “every Texan who wants to download an app, even if it’s an app that simply provides weather updates or sports scores,” said an Apple spokesperson quoted by the WSJ.

The likes of Google, X and Snap are also known to be against such legislation. Texas is the biggest state yet to consider implementing such a bill and could pave the way for adoption across the United States.

Lawmakers in 27 states this year have proposed bills that seek to regulate children’s use of social media, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Federally, an age assurance law that bans American children under 13 from accessing social media platforms is making its way through the Senate.

Calls for age verification in Kenya

In Kenya, the proposed Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2025, put forward by Aldai MP Marianne Kitany, introduces strict age verification rules for social media users. New and current users of platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn will be required to confirm their age using their national biometric identification cards before gaining access.

Content service providers and application service providers will be required to enforce these verification procedures, while mobile service providers will ensure SIM card registrationv aligns with these requirements.

Proposal in Europe gaining traction

A new proposal that would set significant curbs on children’s social media use is gaining traction in Brussels, reports Politico.

The proposal seeks to establish an EU-wide age block on social media use, with minors requiring parental consent to log onto social media. This would result in devices having mandatory, built-in age verification and parental control, alongside introducing “European norms” to combat techniques designed to keep users online for longer. These include social media features like pop-ups and autoplay.

The document seen by Politico would seek age verification implementation at the level of devices, a proposal to which Apple and Google are likely to object. Countries leading the proposal are Greece and Spain, with their respective digital ministers Dimitris Papastergiou and Oscar López Agueda signing the document. Alongside France, the three countries were chosen to test an age verification app developed by the European Commission.

Previously, France president Emmanuel Macron coined the term “digital majority” to mean a legal definition for the age children should be prohibited from certain online behaviors. Macron recommended age 15, with Denmark’s Minister of Digital Affairs Caroline Stage Olsen supporting a ban on social media for under-15s.

Denmark is set to take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU and the proposal spearheaded by Greece and Spain will be discussed by EU digital ministers at a meeting in Copenhagen in early June. It is an indication that European capitals are unhappy with the progress Brussels regulators are taking with respect to children’s online behaviors and want to speed things up.

New Zealand to follow Australia’s lead

New Zealand prime minister Christopher Luxon has put forward a draft law that would mandate social media companies to verify the ages of users, with a minimum age requirement of 16, to create an account. These companies could face fines of up to NZ$2m ($1.2m) otherwise.

The proposed bill is modelled closely on Australia’s, which grabbed international headlines in November 2024 when it unveiled “world-leading” legislation to ban children under 16 from social media use. A February report from Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant found that social media platforms could do more to keep children away.

The New Zealand legislation was authored by National MP Catherine Wedd under Luxon’s centre-right National party, and would need the support of Luxon’s two coalition partners to pass. Opposition Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the bill opens up a conversation New Zealand needs to have, as reported by The Guardian.

However, opposition to the bill has arisen from a libertarian grouping known as ACT New Zealand, according to reporting by MLex. ACT leader and regulation minister David Seymour strongly opposes the bill, and in a statement asked the Education and Workforce Committee to hold an “open, transparent inquiry” to find a “workable solution that respects parental responsibility.”

Some academics have questioned the effectiveness of the bill, arguing whether it would produce the outcomes, such as reduction in bullying and online harms, the government wants. A legal services firm based in Auckland raised concerns over personal privacy, saying that platforms would likely verify users through the collection of biometric information, which is sensitive personal information.

The New Zealand bill is still in its early days and would need to be drawn from the ballot box for parliamentary debate.

Article Topics

age verification  |  biometrics  |  children  |  EU  |  Kenya  |  legislation  |  New Zealand  |  selfie biometrics  |  social media  |  Texas