Safe Digital Environments Law

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The Safe Digital Environments Law (in Spanish: Ley de Entornos Digitales Seguros) is a proposed legislation in Chile for banning users under the age of 16 from social media.

Background

With many countries establishing social media bans for minors, such as Malaysia with the Malaysia Online Safety Act 2025 (ONSA), Australia and the European Union proposing to do the same, the Chilean government announced in April 2026 the Safe Digital Environments plan to ban users under 16 from social media.

Proposals

There's no published bill yet, but proposals for the legislations that have been pushed on Brazil, Australia, France, Spain and the European Union. Mentioned proposals from the ministry point to add mandatory age verification to sites that are social media to prevent underage users to access to these sites. The Social Development & Family Minister, María Jesús Wulf, mentioned there are plans of adding age verification systems implementing the national digital ID, ClaveÚnica, in order to access to social media. Proposals also include to add home and school capacitations to teach about the risks of the internet.

Consumer response

The legislation project has received mixed responses, with some users approving it and other rejecting and critizicing its effectiveness. Several users on Reddit, in the r/chile subreddit have manifested their concerns with privacy, risks of data breaches, censorship concerns and concerns about the potential expansion of the ban to more sites of the internet, as the project is looking to follow similar international legislations. Some users have also highlighted the incompatibility of the project with the Net Neutrality Law, an established law that prevents telecommunication services to arbitrarily block, interfere or restrict the access to legal content online.

Government response

According to María Jesús Wulf, the bill has "no objective to limit or restrict childrens' own liberties and rights, but protecting them from harassment and harmful influences online". Also she claims the implementations of ClaveÚnica are only "to verify age and not identity".