Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni said on Wednesday his government would not take any action to introduce a ban on social media, breaking with the approach taken by Britain and France. “I’m not against banning social media for under 16s, but I’m not sure this proposal alone can solve the problem because that kind of ban can be easily avoided.,” he told reporters at the end of the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains.
The comments put Italy at the center of Europe’s major governments’ involvement in age-based bans, which have become a policy response to growing concerns about children’s mental health and online safety.
Platforms, not parents
Meloni argued that risk prevention “transferring the problem to families” and that restrictions do not work unless governments put more pressure on platforms to “take their responsibilities.” The framework shifts the debate on child access by police to the structural changes needed by companies that profit from involvement.
Although he insists he is not against the ban on people under 16, Meloni said his government has decided not to introduce a law or a bill, instead letting lawmakers in parliament lead the discussion. Several Italian groups have introduced bills to limit children’s access to social media, but none have been adopted.
Europe’s haste to limit
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Earlier this week, Britain announced it would ban under-16s from social media, a move Prime Minister Keir Starmer hopes to legislate before Christmas and implement by early 2027. The restrictions are expected to extend beyond traditional platforms to gaming apps and AI chatbots, the broadest scope yet proposed by the major democracy.
France will implement its own ban on under-15s later this year, with the first enforcement 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 a ban on under-16s in December, suggests enforcement is tougher than law. The Australian government has accused Meta, TikTok, and YouTube of failing to comply with the law, lending Meloni’s argument that bans without platform cooperation are futile.
G7 consensus
G7 leaders, including US President Donald Trump, have approved a declaration to protect children online that says nothing about restricting access to social media. The US had previously expressed concern over Britain’s ban, warning of one-size-fits-all measures.
The announcement calls for safety-by-design policies, age-appropriate recommendation programs, and action on AI-generated child sexual abuse materials. It is more in line with the EU’s Digital Services Act, which imposes content moderation and transparency obligations on platforms, rather than the outright ban favored by London and Paris.
