Eight jurisdictions set four different minimum ages for a social media account

A 15-year-old with the same app on the same phone gets a different answer in four countries. Austria's bill, announced in March 2026, would draw the line at 14, so she is through ^[1]. France's compromise, reached on July 20, 2026, draws it at 15, so she is not ^[1]. In Brazil she can hold an account if it is linked to a legal guardian ^[1]. Australia and Canada set 16 ^[1][1]. Across the nine jurisdictions in Mashable's tally, eight name an age and those eight produce four different numbers: 13, 14, 15 and 16 ^[2].

The EU proposal is where the count gets large. If the EU KIDS Act passes, all 27 member states are in scope ^[3], and Mashable names five of them with national measures of their own: Austria, Denmark, France, Germany and Greece ^{[1][1][1][1][1]}. That leaves 22 states where the EU threshold would be the only one a product has to read ^[3]. It has two numbers in it, a ban for under-13s and limited use for under-15s ^[1]. Mashable's introduction also counts the UK and Indonesia among the countries moving on under-16 access ^[4].

The statutes describe a list of covered surfaces. Brazil requires platforms to limit "features designed to artificially increase, sustain, or extend" the time kids spend, and names automatically playing videos ^[2]. Canada's bill would reach companies that use AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude ^[2]. The EU text covers video-sharing platforms, online gaming, AI chatbots or companions and app stores, with verification through an EU age verification app or third-party platforms ^[2].

The outcome evidence is thin. Mashable reports that kids are already finding ways around these laws ^[1], and that the laws have been criticised for their efficiency and their impact on digital privacy and free speech ^[2]. Reddit is suing over the Australian regime ^[3].

France shows the ordering. Under-15s cannot create new accounts as of Sept. 1, and in January 2027 all existing accounts come under the law, according to Le Monde ^[2]. That second date covers accounts opened before anyone asked for an age ^[5].

Does the jurisdiction want the minor excluded or supervised, and does the duty attach to new accounts or to the whole base? Australia is exclusion at signup ^[1]. Brazil is supervision, with a guardian on the account ^[1]. France starts at signup and reaches existing accounts in January 2027 ^[2]. Filling in that grid comes before picking a verification vendor, and Mashable's list does not price any of it. Australia's Act took effect in December 2025; about seven months later, a study by Australian government advisers found the ban so far ineffective ^[1][4][2].