interviews: Maximiliano Crocamo
Italy is taking a notably cautious path as governments worldwide move to curb minors’ access to social media, resisting strict bans or sharp age limits in favor of education and gradual regulation.
Under current Italian law, children may legally join social media at 14, a threshold permitted under the European Union’s privacy framework, which sets 16 as the default age of digital consent but allows countries to lower it to 13. Italy chose a middle ground and, despite political debate, has not enacted proposals to raise the age or impose binding verification requirements. In practice, access still largely relies on self-declared birth dates, a system widely viewed as ineffective.
Elsewhere, policies are tightening. Australia recently approved one of the strictest measures, banning social media use for those under 16 and placing responsibility for age checks on platforms. France has passed a law requiring verified parental consent for users under 15, while Spain has announced plans to raise age limits and strengthen identity verification. At the European level, the European Parliament has endorsed nonbinding calls for a common minimum age of 16 and standardized age-verification systems.
Italian officials cite practical and cultural reasons for holding back. Enforcement remains a central concern: without reliable, privacy-compliant verification tools, policymakers argue that bans risk being largely symbolic. Many experts also emphasize digital literacy and parental involvement over prohibition, reflecting a broader view that teenagers’ social lives are deeply intertwined with online platforms. Rome has additionally signaled reluctance to move ahead of evolving European rules, including those tied to the Digital Services Act.
Critics contend that this softer approach leaves minors exposed to documented risks, including anxiety, addiction and harmful content, while allowing underage users to bypass rules easily. They warn that Italy may be lagging behind a global shift toward treating social media as a public-health and child-protection issue.
The debate now centers less on a specific age threshold than on responsibility — whether it should fall primarily on families, platforms or the state. For the moment, Italy is opting for caution. But as international pressure mounts and European standards take shape, that stance may become harder to sustain.
