The increasing prevalence of social media and smartphones with long hours spent in front of screens has brought the risks faced by children and young people into focus worldwide.

Anadolu tracked similar practices and restrictions around the world following an announcement by Australia that it is preparing a bill to introduce age restrictions for social media platforms.

The long hours spent in front of screens by a large portion of the population, especially children and young people, have raised concerns about manipulation, digital bullying, misinformation, hate speech, obscene content, privacy violations, fraud, and cybersecurity.

These concerns have led various countries to impose regulations, restrictions, and bans on smartphones and social media platforms.

In Europe, many politicians have proposed restricting the social media age limit to 15 or 16, arguing that platforms are not properly enforcing the 13-year-old limit they have set themselves.