Poland’s Education Minister Barbara Nowacka has outlined the country’s plans to ban social media for kids under the age of 15.
Poland is planning to ban social media for children under the age of 15.
A draft law, whose outline will be presented by the governing Civic Coalition party on Friday (27.02.26), would see social media platforms fined if their sites remain accessible to younger children and would hold the companies responsible for verifying the ages of users.
Poland’s Education Minister Barbara Nowacka told Bloomberg: “We see the mental health of children and young people, we see a decline in their intellectual competence.”
The minister says the size of the fines social media firms would have to play for violations is still under consideration, but she expects the law to be implemented by early 2027.
In contemplating a ban, Poland joins other European nations such as Denmark, France, Spain and the UK, which have all threatened to restrict the access of millions of young users to social media services.
Warsaw’s plans set the stage for a potential battle with some of the biggest tech companies in the US – some of whom have already expressed frustration after Australia imposed a ban last year.
However, Nowacka explained that she doesn’t see the bill in terms of geopolitics.
She said: “To be honest, who’s the owner of this or that platform is absolutely secondary.”
Nowacka emphasised that government action was necessary as platforms “don’t follow their own regulations” and do not verify users’ ages.
The minister said: “We need to take preventive measures, and not wonder whether this or that country will look at it a certain way.
“I think it’s in the interest of every country to protect its children.”
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer suggested earlier this month that he would listen to arguments on both sides before deciding whether to implement a social media ban for under-16s in Britain.
He said: “I think this is such an important issue that we need to go into it with a ban as a possibility.
“There are powerful arguments on both sides. Some people simply say just get all under-16s off social media, and that’s the end of it. NSPCC, obviously an organisation very concerned with children’s protection, says no, it’ll push children to even darker places.
“Others – I was with young people this morning, 15 and 16-year-olds who are actually going to be affected by this – they said to me, look we get our news from social media, we don’t read the papers, and therefore you’ll stop us accessing the news. We need to look at all of this in the round.”
Poland planning social media ban for under-15s
