Ottawa wants to block kids from social media. How would age verification work?

They include the United Kingdom, which plans to implement a ban for kids under 16, and France, which has approved a social media ban for kids under 15. But France’s top court, the Constitutional Council, struck down the social media ban on Friday. The court ruled the ban is too broad and infringed upon freedom of expression and privacy rights. Countries around the world have introduced age verification systems that are operating at “various levels of efficacy,” said Heidi Tworek, a professor of history and public policy at the University of British Columbia, shortly after the Canadian bill was introduced. They include Australia, which has age restrictions for social media, and the U.K., where there is a mandatory verification system controlling access to adult content. In December 2025, Australia introduced a law that requires social media platforms to take reasonable steps to keep kids under 16 from using their services. Australia’s rules apply to multiple platforms, including Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitch, X, YouTube and Reddit. But the rules have gaps. In a report released in March, the country’s online safety commissioner said that while millions of accounts had been removed or restricted, “a substantial number of children
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