Kazakhstan considers suspending social media accounts of under-16s

The government of Kazakhstan is considering temporarily suspending the social media accounts of users aged under 16.

Prime Minister Oljas Bektenov set out the plan in an official response to a request from deputies, reported on 5 October 2026. The initiative is intended to strengthen digital security and protect minors from harmful content online. It would affect young users across the country and would involve Meta, TikTok and other major networks, whose local offices the government plans to consult.

A phased plan for blocking accounts

Bektenov said the new child safety mechanisms would be introduced in stages. A special transition period would come first, so that the country can adapt to the strict new requirements. During that period, the temporary suspension of existing accounts of users under 16 would be considered.

The legislative groundwork is already in hand. The government has drafted a package of amendments to the current law on online platforms and online advertising, and deputies are examining it now.

How the age checks would work

Once Parliament has formally approved the changes, a strict technical regulation on verifying users' real age would be adopted. Three tools are planned. The networks' own software tools would be used to enforce the age limit. Age filters would be strengthened with modern artificial intelligence. And a user's real age would be established through in-depth analysis of their actions, the accounts they follow and the content they publish on their page.

Consultations with the platforms and a regional model

The government intends to involve the international companies directly. Bektenov said the draft normative document would first be coordinated with the local offices of the internet platforms, naming Meta, TikTok and other major networks. He added that the initiative is aimed not only at protecting minors in the digital space, but also at taking online advertising and the rule of law to a new level.

The announcement also looked beyond Kazakhstan. According to the government, the country's experience and the legislative mechanisms it adopts could become an important model for future reforms on children's internet safety across Central Asia, including in Uzbekistan.

Regulators and courts elsewhere

The plan lands amid a broader international response to harm to children online. In the European Union, the European Commission sent TikTok preliminary findings on 24 July 2026 that accounts for under-18s do not meet the safety standards of the Digital Services Act. The Commission found that young people could set their accounts to public, which allows material posted by 16 and 17 year olds to be recommended to any user of the app. The findings are preliminary and are not a final decision.

In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office publishes guidance called the Children's code, formally "Age appropriate design", which applies to apps, games, websites and social media that children are likely to use, even when those services are not made for children. The Consumer Protection Act 1987, which has usually been applied to physical products, is being examined by the Law Commission for the digital age, and one lawyer argues social media firms could be seen as makers of a digital space.

In the United States, the litigation over the platforms has reached the trial stage. On 25 March 2026 a jury in Los Angeles found Meta, over Instagram, and Google, over YouTube, liable in the case of a young woman known as K.G.M.. A trial of two further personal injury plaintiffs against Meta, YouTube and Snap is set to begin in Los Angeles on 28 October 2026. A second trial had been due in July, but TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube settled with the plaintiff. The first school-district test case, brought by a county school district in Kentucky against Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube, settled before the trial that had been set for June 2026. The terms were not disclosed in court; agreements later released under a public-records request were reported to total about US$27 million. The next school-district test trials, for Tucson Unified and Charleston County, are due to start in 2027. The cases form part of litigation over alleged child social media addiction, and social media claims against the platforms continue to move through US courts.

For now, the Kazakhstan package remains with deputies. If Parliament approves the amendments, the technical regulation on age verification will follow, and the government says it will settle the detail with the platforms' local offices before the new rules come into force.