{"source":{"name":"Evidence Hub on Social Media Ban for Kids - A project by the Lisbon Council","url":"https:\/\/socialmediaban.lisboncouncil.net","license":"Creative Common CC-BY 4.0 International"},"data":[{"data":[0,0,2,1,6,4,11,13,16,4,16,1,12,5,6,1],"name":"Percentage of Respondents (%)"}],"_data":[["\ufeffProposed Age \/ Measure","Percentage of Respondents (%)"],["1-5 years",0],["6-9 years",0],["10 years",2],["11 years",1],["12 years",6],["13 years",4],["14 years",11],["15 years",13],["16 years",16],["17 years",4],["18 years or above",16],["No age limitations",1],["It should be left for parents to decide",12],["It depends on the social media platform",5],["Some other measures should be taken",6],["Don't know",1]],"labels":{"name":"\ufeffProposed Age \/ Measure","values":["1-5 years","6-9 years","10 years","11 years","12 years","13 years","14 years","15 years","16 years","17 years","18 years or above","No age limitations","It should be left for parents to decide","It depends on the social media platform","Some other measures should be taken","Don't know"]},"metadata":{"link":"https:\/\/fra.europa.eu\/en\/publication\/2026\/child-protection-social-media","type":"","unit":"Percent (%)","year":"2026","title":"Opinion on age target for social media prohibition for minors - respondents 18 and above","topic":"Public Sentiment","method":"survey (25,922 respondents - aged 18 and above)","source":"European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Protecting children on social media \u2013 Views on age limits, 2026","sub_topic":"","chart_number":"68.0","geographical":"European Union"},"description":"This chart illustrates public opinion of adults (aged 18 and above) in the European Union regarding the appropriate legal age for accessing social media platforms, as determined by a 2026 FRA survey of more than 26000 adults. The data reveal a strong preference for high age limits, with the ag of 16 (16%) and the age of 18 or above (16%) emerging as the most popular legal cutoffs. Combining these with those favouring ages of 14 and 15, almost 56% of the population supports a 'digital majority' age of 14 or higher.\r\nA significant trend emerges regarding the rejection of unregulated access: only 1% of respondents believe there should be no age limitations, signalling near-universal public agreement on the necessity of age restrictions. While the preference for a 16-year limit provides a democratic mandate for the 'hard prohibitive' models currently proposed in countries such as Spain and Denmark, a notable 12% of the population still believes that the decision should remain the responsibility of parents.\r\nA significant trend emerges when these results are compared with those of the adolescent demographic (aged 15\u201317) - chart #68. While adults anchor their preference at the 16- and 18-year thresholds (32% combined), teenagers overwhelmingly favour a younger cutoff of 14 or 15 (31% combined). Furthermore, adults are four times more likely than adolescents to believe that the limit should be set at 18 or over (16% versus 4%), reflecting a far more restrictive outlook compared to adolescents' preference for mid-adolescent entry points. Adults show significantly less platform-specific nuance: they are only half as likely as teenagers to suggest that the limit should 'depend on the social media platform' (5% vs 11%). This suggests that the adult population favours a more uniform, 'blanket' regulatory approach."}