Egypt’s House of Representatives said on Sunday it will craft legislation to limit children’s access to social media, as Australia has done, to “put an end to the digital chaos our children are facing, and which negatively impacts their future.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called for such legislation in a televised address on Saturday, pointing to the precedent set by Australia, whose ban on most social media services for children under 16 went into effect in December. Sisi also mentioned the United Kingdom, where the House of Lords just voted in favor of a ban on social media for children under 16.
Sisi said Egypt should follow suit and restrict social media for children “until they reach an age where they can handle it properly.”
The Egyptian president did not specify what that age should be, and neither did the House of Representatives, which said it would work with government officials and experts to draft a law that will “protect Egyptian children from any risks that threaten their thoughts and behavior.”
A think tank called the National Center for Social and Criminological Research published a report in 2024 that said about half of Egyptian children under 18 are social media users and they are frequently exposed to harmful content and abuse.
Egyptian officials were reportedly spurred to action by the public response to an Egyptian television series called Labet Waqalbet Begad or “A Game that Turned Dark.”
The show examined the dangers children face online, especially from the popular gaming and social media platform Roblox, which has faced accusations of exposing children to sexual predators from around the world. Qatar banned Roblox outright in August because of these allegations.
Roblox promised in September that it would implement an “age estimation system” to keep children separated from adult users, a measure very similar to the requirements placed on social media platforms by Australia’s law.
Another of the countries contemplating a social media ban for children after Australia’s law took effect is France, where the National Assembly voted Monday in favor of banning children under 15 from using both social media networks and “social networking functionalities” provided by other programs, such as Roblox and its hybrid of gaming and social interaction.
French President Emmanuel Macron has cited Australia’s law as an inspiration, and is urging his legislature to implement a similar ban before the school year begins in September.
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