Argentina pushes digital age of majority at 15

National deputy Carolina Basualdo has introduced a bill to set Argentina’s digital age of majority at 15, and it has been sent to the Chamber of Deputies committees on Families, Children and Youth, and on Communications and Informatics. The proposal says children under 15 could only create or keep social media profiles with the prior, free and informed consent of the person or persons with parental responsibility, guardianship or custody.

What would it require from social platforms?

The bill would require social media companies to put in place age verification systems that protect users’ personal data. It also adopts a legislative definition of social network, describing it as a platform that allows users to create profiles, produce or share content, and interact, supported by content recommendation systems.

What penalties would it set?

According to reporting cited by Tiempo de San Juan, the proposal includes fines for noncompliant platforms ranging from 100 to 100,000 Salarios Mínimos, Vitales y Móviles. It also allows for a full or partial suspension of the platform if the required obligations are not met.

Parlamentario reported that the initiative seeks to mirror the French model and frames minors’ access to social networks as a shared responsibility among families, the state and platform providers. That approach places the debate around access age, data handling and the role of platforms in verification.

How does it connect with other child protection bills?

In parallel, another initiative in Argentina aims to strengthen protection for children’s and teenagers’ images against social media risks. That proposal adds technical options such as face pixelation, voice distortion or other methods that prevent identification when images are made public.

The plan seeks to require schools and other actors that publish audiovisual content to use mandatory mechanisms to protect students’ identities when images are made public. In provincial coverage of the Ema Law, Diario Hoy added that the text requires the Línea 102 hotline to be displayed in related communications and provides for immediate revocation of consent for image use, as well as pixelation or voice distortion.

Provincia en Vivo reported that the Ema Law passed the first round in the Buenos Aires provincial Chamber of Deputies and that it adds consent, privacy, digital rights and ethical AI use to the curriculum, along with mandatory training for school staff.

What is the broader climate around the debate?

A CIS survey from UADE cited by ITSitio found that 86% of Argentines surveyed support regulating social media, while 87% back age verification mechanisms. At the same time, Derechos Digitales said that an organization participating in a closed-door roundtable on the Buenos Aires bill sent comments in July 2026 and warned that expanding exceptions to consent and reducing outside oversight over data processors, especially the state, would mark a setback from human rights standards.

Letra P also reported that the Executive Branch’s proposed personal data reform has drawn criticism, and that participants in the debate believe it should be withdrawn or substantially changed before reaching Congress.