They vary more on how effective such bans will be, however

Following Australia's high-profile ban on under-16s having social media accounts, many countries around the world are now exploring their own versions.

A YouGov Australia survey ahead of the parliamentary debate on the ban found that 77% of Australians were in support, and now a new YouGov European Political Monthly survey finds support on the continent is also high.

Our study – conducted in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain – shows France leading the pack, with 79% of adults backing a ban on under-16s using social media. France’s National Assembly passed a bill in January to ban social media for under-15s, with the government hoping to sign the bill into law ahead of the next school year.

The UK comes close behind, on 76%, with only 17% opposed. The British government has recently launched a consultation exploring a ban on social media for children under the age of 16.

Support for a ban at 16 is also high in Germany, at 74%, with the ruling CDU having recently passed a motion to ban social media use for under-14s.

Likewise in Italy, where a cross-party initiative in parliament is seeking to ban social media accounts for under-15s, support for a ban set at 16 achieves 70% public backing.

Meanwhile in Spain, where prime minister Pedro Sánchez has announced plans to ban social media for children under the age of 16, 68% of Spaniards are in support.

Support is notably lower in Poland, although still a majority view at 53%. Nevertheless, 39% of Poles are opposed. Civic Coalition, the largest party in Poland’s coalition government, has announced plans to ban children under 15 from using social media.

Who supports a ban?

Parents of children under 18 are among the most enthusiastic supporters in each country surveyed. In Britain, Italy, and Spain, 79% of parents with under-18 children support the policy.

In most countries surveyed, women are more likely than men to back the ban. This gap is largest in Italy, where 75% of women support it compared to 65% of men.

Age profiles of support are not so consistent across the continent, however. In France and Germany, backing for a ban is roughly consistent across age groups.

In Britain and Italy, the younger generation are notably less likely to support a ban, while in Spain and especially Italy it is the oldest generation who are least supportive.

There is likewise cross-partisan support for social media bans for under-16s. Looking at those voting groups in each country large enough to examine in detail, we can see that in Britain in particular there are strikingly similar levels of support across the main parties (75-79%). Likewise in France, support among 2022 Macron voters (83%) and Le Pen voters (77%) are about the same, while in Italy between 69-76% of 5 Star Movement, Brothers of Italy and Democratic Party voters also back a ban.

Differences are more dramatic in Spain, with support ranging from 89% of 2023 SUMAR voters to 55% of VOX voters, but these still represent majority support. Likewise, 2025 AfD voters in Germany fall notably further behind in their backing (56%) than other major parties (73-79% for the SPD, CDU/CSU, and the Greens).

Support is again lowest in Poland, standing at 57-59% among 2023 Civic Coalition and Third Way voters, and 47% among Law and Justice/United Right voters (who are split overall, with 48% opposed).

Europeans differ on how effective they think bans would be at stopping children getting access to social media accounts

While support for a social media ban is high, there is also a great deal of scepticism about how effective such bans would be.

In fact, in Britain a majority of people (54%) believe the ban will be not very or not at all effective – including 46% of those who support it! Only 37% are optimistic about the ban’s prospects.

In Poland likewise the 39% who think social media bans for under-16s would be effective are outweighed by the 49% who disagree, while French people and Germans are evenly divided on the matter.

However, most people in Spain (53%) and particularly Italy (61%) do think such a ban is likely to be effective, although only 18-25% expect them to be “very effective”.

In criticism of previous YouGov UK research on the Online Safety Act, critics argued that asking about support for age verification rules inflated support relative to asking about the practical implications – namely having to verify your age upon login.

This is not the case in the UK as regards to those rules, and nor is it the case in Europe when it comes to registering for social media accounts. Even in Poland, where only a slim majority supported banning under-16s from social media, fully 78% support age verification upon sign-up. Across the other countries surveyed this figure stands at 79-87%.

See the full topline results here

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