The Italian government will not take action to prevent children from using social media, according to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday, June 18th.
Speaking to reporters at the end of the G7 summit, Meloni said her administration will not be presenting a bill or government decree or bill which leaves the initiative to lawmakers. The practicalities of the developing French, British, and Australian models for banning under-age access appear not to have convinced her:
I am not against a social media ban for under 16s, but I am not either convinced that this proposal alone can solve the problem because that type of ban can be easily circumvented.
She added that any ban would risk “to partially transfer the problem on families.” Like other G7 leaders, Meloni indicated a preference for holding big tech companies responsible for the problem.
This wasn’t mentioned by U.S. president Donald Trump, in whose country many of the social media platforms are based. Nevertheless, the G7 leaders did manage to issue a statement between them on the need to protect children online.
