Global Social Media Bans for Minors: France's Blanket Ban vs. Vietnam's Unprecedented 'Read-Only' Model

The law also includes a ban on mobile phones in high schools . A critical detail is that parental consent does not override the ban .

Vietnam's Draft Decree: A 'Read-Only' Model for Under-16s

On July 23, 2026, Vietnam's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism proposed a draft decree that takes a novel approach. Instead of banning access outright, children under 16 may keep their social media accounts but would be prohibited from posting, commenting, sharing, or reacting to content – effectively a 'view-only' or 'muted' mode .

Accounts must be registered by a parent or legal guardian, who would be responsible for supervising the child's activity . The draft also requires age checks for online gaming . Meta and TikTok reportedly pushed back during the public consultation . Critics have called the proposal unusually restrictive, arguing it limits interactive participation while still allowing passive content consumption .

Key Comparison: Vietnam vs. France

Vietnam's model is the most unusual globally – it allows children to stay on platforms but restricts their ability to engage, while France follows the Australia-style total-access-ban model .

Australia: The Catalyst for the Global Wave

Australia remains the world's first country to enforce an under-16 social media ban, under the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, which took effect on December 10, 2025 . Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube must take 'reasonable steps' to prevent under-16s from having accounts, with penalties of up to AUD 49.5 million for non-compliance . Reports indicate that hundreds of thousands of accounts were deactivated on the first day of enforcement . This law has directly inspired the global wave of copycat legislation .

United States: Federal Stalemate, State Action

At the federal level, Congress has introduced several bills but has passed none as of July 2026 . Key pending legislation includes:

• Kids Off Social Media Act (S.278): Would prohibit accounts for children under 13 and ban algorithmic recommendations for users under 17 .
• Kids Online Safety Act (S.1748): Would require platforms to implement specific safeguards for minors .
• COPPA 2.0: Would update children's online privacy rules for users under 17 .

At the state level, at least 20 U.S. states have enacted their own laws addressing minors' social media access, but litigation has created a patchwork of enforceable, enjoined, and not-yet-effective laws .

Global Trend and Unverified Claims

Other countries, including the UK, Spain, and Slovenia, are also considering similar restrictions . This search could not independently verify reports of legislation in the Philippines, Singapore, or Ukraine, nor a specific warning from The BMJ about unintended harm from such bans, as these items fell outside the search budget .

Bottom Line

The week of July 20-25, 2026, marks a significant escalation in the global push to regulate minors' social media use. France's approved blanket ban and Vietnam's proposed 'read-only' model represent two divergent regulatory philosophies: total restriction versus limited, supervised engagement. Australia's enforced ban continues to serve as the global template, while the United States remains a notable outlier with stalled federal progress.