As major European countries move one after another to restrict teenagers' use of social media, attention is turning to the direction of domestic policy. With more than 10 European countries reviewing bills to strengthen age limits or ban use, South Korea appears to be placing weight on building phased protective measures.

After Australia blocked minors from using social media in December last year, debate over limiting teenagers' social media use has spread in Europe. In Europe alone, more than 10 countries including Britain, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway, the Czech Republic and Turkiye have prepared or are reviewing related legislation. In Asia, Malaysia has restricted social media use by teenagers under 16 since last month.

Behind the policy moves are worsening youth mental health, online bullying and addiction problems from excessive use. Some countries are also discussing requiring platforms to verify users' ages and imposing penalty surcharges for violations.

In South Korea, discussions on social media policy to protect teenagers are under way, centered on the Korea Communications Commission. Kim Jong-cheol (김종철), chairman of the commission, previously said at a parliamentary confirmation hearing in December last year, when he was a nominee, that he would seek various policy alternatives for teenagers under 16, including strengthening legal guardians' consent authority.

At a youth meeting held on Feb. 5 at the Seoul Media Center for Audience, Kim said studies have continued to find that algorithm-based recommendation services cause side effects such as confirmation bias, triggering addiction and worsening physical and mental health. He said he is considering social media policy to protect children and teenagers.

The commission has begun work on concrete policy measures. A commission official said it is still at the stage of preparing a draft and plans to produce a final proposal in the first half of the year after collecting opinions from experts, teenagers and parents.

A mood is dominant, however, that hardline regulation such as a full ban is premature. A blanket block could also fuel controversy over unconstitutionality in terms of freedom of expression and the right to access information. The industry expects measures closer to supplemental regulation, such as age verification or stronger legal guardian consent, as Kim said at the confirmation hearing.

Strengthening platform responsibility is also mentioned as an alternative, but potential pushback from platform operators cannot be ignored. With many popular social media services such as Facebook and Instagram being foreign, authorities also need to consider fairness because they cannot impose strong obligations only on domestic platforms.

An industry official said strengthening age verification, limiting access times and restricting push notifications may be feasible measures. The official said policies should be presented to secure teen safety by reducing excessive use rather than imposing a full block.