EU hits pause on country-level social media bans for children

The European Union (EU) said on Thursday it does not want any more national-level bans on social media before a pan-European law is approved, as it blocked draft rules put forward by Austria. Under EU law, member states must notify the European Commission to ensure their bills do not break the bloc’s rules. Austria wanted to ban children under 14 from social media, but the EU said no. “The commission has decided to postpone for 12 months any draft national laws overlapping with the future harmonised rules,” EU spokesman Thomas Regnier said. The European Commission last month proposed to ban…