Roskomnadzor denies reports of a ban on children under 14 using social media

The agency denies the initiative

Roskomnadzor did not initiate a ban on children under 14 using social media. The agency's press service told journalists this, and its words are cited by Interfax with reference to a Gazeta.Ru report. 'The agency did not put forward such an initiative. We consider it necessary to provide social media users with content appropriate to their age,' the press service said.

What Vedomosti reported

On October 27 Vedomosti reported, that Roskomnadzor had proposed introducing mandatory identification of minors on social media and reducing time spent on the internet for children under 14. According to this version, the agency sent the draft law to the State Duma committee on information policy, and an RKN representative explained the measure, among other things, by the need to restrict minors' access to prohibited content. Thus, the two reports contradict each other: the agency denies authorship of the initiative that the outlet wrote about, and there is still no final clarity on the fate of the draft law.

International context

Similar restrictions are already in effect or being prepared in a number of countries. Australia was the first to introduce such measures in 2024, requiring social networks to block users under 16; similar restrictions are due to take effect in the United Kingdom and Greece in 2027. Restrictions or bans on social media for minors are also in place in the UAE, Norway, Turkey, China, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia and Germany. It was separately noted that earlier the State Duma called for strengthening banking oversight of children's accounts.