Call for participation in IBA Communications Law Committee Working Group project on social media access for minors of age

The IBA Communications Law Committee’s Working Group Officers are launching a new project on ‘Social media access for minors of age’. We invite Committee members and colleagues across the IBA to participate in what we expect will be a timely, practical and globally relevant comparative exercise.

Around the world, many stakeholders including policymakers, regulators, platforms, schools and families are grappling with the issue of whether and how access to social media by minors should be addressed in legislation and practically enforced. The issue illustrates the interplay between service regulation, online safety, content governance, platform liability, data protection, freedom of information and expression and the growing role of AI-driven recommendation and moderation systems. It also raises broader societal concerns that align closely with the IBA’s mission. Given the pace of legislative proposals and enforcement activity worldwide, the Working Group believes this project has the strong potential to inform professional debate and media coverage.

Participation in the project would predominantly involve responding to a questionnaire, which has been designed to enable clear cross-jurisdiction comparison while leaving room for relevant local nuance. The questionnaire aims to address issues such as whether restrictions on the use of social media by minors already exist or are under active discussion, how these restrictions are framed, what the age restrictions are, sanctions and enforcement – including practical enforcement challenges – implications for fundamental rights and freedoms such as freedom of information and expression and the right to data protection, liability exposure and relevant legislation, case law, investigations or pending litigation that is shaping the debate.

We welcome input from all jurisdictions. We are particularly keen to receive contributions covering: Australia; East Asia (including China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan); the Middle East; the EU and jurisdictions in Europe (including Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Slovenia, Spain and the UK); South America (including Brazil and Chile); Africa (including South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Ethiopia); Central America (including Mexico); and North America (including Canada and the US, with state-level perspectives especially welcome, such as from California, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Mississippi). Colleagues from all other jurisdictions are welcome to contribute.

If you would like to contribute and be part of the project, please contact the Working Group Officers by the end of 19 April 2026 by writing to mdicarlo@ristuf.it, laurence.bary@hsfkramer.com and torunn.hellvik.olsen@norid.no.

Kind regards from the Working Group Officers:

Laurence Bary, Mario Di Carlo (coord.) and Torunn Hellvik Olsen.