Colombia advances bill to keep under-14s off social media, with fines for platforms

Colombia has moved a step closer to banning children under 14 from social media, after a bill that would force every user of the platforms to verify their identity won a favourable report in the Chamber of Representatives.

Bill 083 of 2026 (Proyecto de Ley 083 de 2026 Cámara), formally "by means of which social media platforms are regulated in Colombia and other general provisions are enacted", is before the Sixth Commission of the Chamber, where Luis Guillermo Patiño Aristizábal, representative for Antioquia and a member of the Creemos movement, is coordinating rapporteur. Its 15 articles would bind every digital company operating in the country, with the protection of children and adolescents at its centre.

The proposal targets the risks of the online environment, from cyberbullying and children's mental health to screen addiction, and would make large technology companies turn away their youngest users.

Where the bill stands

The bill needs four debates in Congress: in the Sixth Commissions of the Chamber and the Senate, then in the plenaries of both. On Thursday, 8 October, it emerged that Patiño, the bill's coordinating rapporteur, had filed a positive report on the text. The document, dated 18 September 2026, was sent to Luis Hernando González, president of the Sixth Commission of the Chamber, with a request that the bill continue its course.

The report is circulating among the commission's members. The next step is for the Sixth Commission to call the bill for its first debate.

What platforms would have to do

Article 10 would bar the registration and access of children under 14 on social platforms not designed specifically for them. Platforms designed specifically for minors would be allowed, with parental controls and the express approval of their legal representatives.

Behind that sits a wider demand: platforms would have to "implement a mandatory identity verification mechanism for all users". Companies could not retain users' personal data without their express consent, and would have to tell users how their data is used and obtain informed consent. The bill's explanatory memorandum says it reinforces Colombia's habeas data framework (Laws 1266 of 2008 and 1581 of 2012).

False accounts and fictitious identities would be banned, as would the spread of false information meant to manipulate public opinion or to defame people or companies.

Platforms would report every six months on the content they remove, giving the reasons, their response times to complaints and any user appeals, and would have to explain how their recommendation algorithms, targeted advertising and takedown criteria work. The rapporteur's report proposes adding a duty to report signs of sexual exploitation, child pornography or the recruitment of minors to the Police, the national prosecutor's office (Fiscalía) and the ICBF, the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare, and to keep the digital evidence.

The figures driving the bill

The proposal leans on figures from Dane, Colombia's national statistics department, drawn from an experimental measurement using judicial records for 2015 to 2025. The rapporteur's report cites more than 22,697 children and adolescents as victims of sexual exploitation in Colombia and 12,074 victims in cases involving child pornography. The counts appear in the report as evidence of harm to children and of the case for tighter control of digital environments.

Separately, a Human Rights Watch report published on 24 August said Facebook and TikTok had failed to stop armed groups' recruitment content from spreading in Colombia and in some cases appeared to promote it; both companies said they had removed the specific posts the group identified.

Fines and the next step

Platforms with more than 100,000 active users would need a physical presence in Colombia. The Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC) would run the procedures against companies that breach the rules and could fine them up to 5,000 statutory monthly minimum wages. For repeated breaches it could order a platform's temporary or permanent blocking in the country.

The rapporteur's report voices a general concern: "The impact of disinformation has been a relevant factor in various democratic processes and in social stability," it states.

Beyond Congress, opinion divides. Many parents and educators have welcomed a clear limit on a problem that often exceeds what a household can control, while analysts and technology experts warn of the difficulty of checking ages without intruding on everyone else's privacy, and question whether a state prohibition would serve better than digital education and guidance from families.

How identity could be verified without needless damage to privacy, and who would supervise the checks, are among the questions that could dominate the first debate.

No response from the platforms the bill would cover appears in any of the published accounts of its progress. Its final reach will depend on the legislative debate and any amendments to the text. The next move belongs to the Sixth Commission, which must call the bill for a first debate in which identity verification could prove one of the most sensitive points.

For families asking what this means for them, our guides explain who can claim and how social media claims work, how group litigation is run, what court cases have decided so far, the latest developments, and the evidence on harm to children.