The government will not start an age-limitation ban on social media, which is easily configurable, said Prime Minister Meloni. She emphasised the need to pressure platforms, while leaving the discussion of the issue to parliament. 

Giorgia Meloni, the Italian PM, claims that her government isn’t going to take the initiative to ban social media for teens on its own, like it is already planned in France, the United Kingdom and other nations.

Such a ban has the potential to “partially shift the problem onto families,” and would likely be ineffective if governments increase pressure placed on platforms to act, she said, and “take responsibility.

In the meantime, Meloni stressed she is not against the ban on social media for minors under 16 in Italy. The government, however, did not propose to enact a corresponding decree or bill and left it to parliament to discuss this issue. Right now, there are already several bills concerning such a ban that have been submitted in Italy, but none have yet been adopted.

Addition

The United Kingdom recently announced that it will begin cracking down on social media use by children under 16 years old. A similar ban is also slated for France later this year, for kids under 15. In the past, the U.S. expressed concerns about the British undertaking and cautioned against “universal solutions” to the issue.

The leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) major economies on Wednesday agreed to a statement on protecting children online that makes no mention of banning children’s social media use.