Uruguay debates social media limits for minors

Colorado lawmaker Felipe Schipani has introduced a bill in Uruguay’s Chamber of Representatives that would restrict access to social media for anyone under 15 and strengthen protections for privacy, security and personal data. The measure has already been folded into parliamentary work, while the chamber has launched a nationwide consultation to gather input on broader rules for digital environments used by children.

What does Schipani’s bill propose?

The text presented by Schipani would prohibit anyone under 15 from creating, keeping, reactivating or using personal accounts on social media services offered to users located in Uruguay. It would also require providers to adopt reasonable, proportionate, effective and auditable measures to block that access.

The bill also sets out stronger protections for teenagers between 15 and 17. Among other obligations, it calls for maximum privacy settings by default, blocking messages from unknown adults unless expressly enabled, turning off public geolocation, limiting profile recommendations to unknown adults, and suspending notifications between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.

The proposal also bars behavioral profiling for advertising aimed at minors and the use of sensitive data or inferences about emotional state to recommend ads. It also prohibits the sale or transfer of children’s and adolescents’ data for commercial purposes.

How is the legislative review moving forward?

The Chamber of Representatives has opened a nationwide consultation on how to legislate the use of social media by children and adolescents, as part of its review of Schipani’s bill. The consultation is meant to inform lawmakers about the scope of any future regulation and is collecting views from families, specialists and organizations focused on childhood and technology.

According to Latinoamérica21, the process was launched in June 2026 as an open-ended, broad-reaching initiative designed not only to debate the specific bill, but also to build a wider framework for regulating platforms and digital environments for children.

Parliamentary sources cited by la diaria say the initiative has broad political support in the Chamber of Representatives and is part of a wider agenda to regulate digital platforms with the goal of protecting girls, boys and adolescents. In that context, the bill is moving toward a more technical review in the Chamber’s Innovation, Science and Technology Committee, where it was explicitly added to the legislative agenda.

How are other sources reading the Uruguayan case?

Latinoamérica21 describes Uruguay’s case as one that leans more toward deliberation than outright prohibition, given the combination of a specific bill and a broad public consultation. Its analysis also compares the effort with social media access rules for minors in France and Spain.