South Korea implements strict new digital welfare laws to curb youth social media addiction

South Korea implements strict new digital welfare laws to curb youth social media addiction

Seoul, South Korea/London-UK, November 26, 2025

EAST ASIA’S DIGITAL DIVIDE: Mandatory Age Verification and Enhanced Parental Controls on Major Social Media Platforms Take Effect, Reigniting Debate Over Government Intervention in Online Privacy

As the world’s most hyper-connected society, South Korea is once again pioneering a strict regulatory response to the social costs of its own technological advancement.

Faced with soaring rates of youth depression and digital dependency, the government has launched a sweeping intervention into the operations of major online platforms.

South Korea Implements Strict New Digital Welfare Laws to Curb Youth Social Media Addiction, marking a decisive shift toward mandatory protective measures that place the onus on tech companies to enforce limits on minors’ online lives.

The crisis is stark:

official data has repeatedly shown that Korean adolescents report some of the highest rates of digital addiction globally, where compulsive internet and social media use severely disrupts daily life, academic performance, and mental health.

The new laws, spearheaded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) in Seoul, are designed to impose unprecedented friction on the seamless digital lives of the nation’s youth.

These measures go significantly further than previous attempts, such as the now-repealed ‘Cinderella Law’ that controversially banned minors from late-night online gaming, by targeting the far more pervasive world of social media platforms.

Mandatory Verification and Control

The core of the new regulatory package, which takes effect in late 2025, rests on two highly controversial requirements designed to place government-sanctioned guardrails on children’s online activity:

Mandatory Age Verification:

Major domestic platforms, including Kakao and Naver, along with international giants like TikTok and YouTube, are now required to integrate state-approved identity verification systems to confirm the age of all users under 18. This is intended to prevent minors from accessing age-inappropriate content and to accurately apply parental controls and time limits.

Enhanced Parental Controls:

The law mandates that platforms must provide parents with highly granular control features, including the ability to set rigid daily time limits on non-educational use and to monitor activity reports without requiring the child’s consent.

Crucially, the law imposes escalating fines on platforms that fail to effectively implement and enforce these parental mandates, transforming a voluntary feature into a regulatory requirement.

The Controversy: Privacy, Paternalism, and the Great Firewall

The implementation has triggered immediate and strong resistance from two distinct groups. Tech companies are unified in their opposition, citing the immense technical burden of building domestic-specific age verification systems compliant with government standards.

They also raise significant concerns regarding data privacy, arguing that mandatory state-linked identity checks represent a massive intrusion into personal data sovereignty. Many companies fear the precedent this sets, potentially paving the way for other forms of government content control.

Conversely, the laws are strongly supported by advocacy groups, parents’ associations, and the psychiatric community, who argue that the severe societal cost of unchecked digital dependency justifies the intervention.

They view the new regulations as a necessary paternalistic step to protect a vulnerable population from profit-driven algorithmic exploitation.

There is also a pragmatic element:

by forcing compliance on domestic platforms like Kakao, the government hopes to establish a national standard that international players must follow to remain viable in the highly valuable Korean market.

A Global Precedent for the Digital Age

The unfolding situation in Seoul is being closely watched globally. As nations across Europe and North America grapple with the same issues—from the effects of social media algorithms on teen mental health to the challenges of enforcing online safety laws—South Korea is testing the boundaries of state power in the digital age.

For the London-UK based CJ Global, the success or failure of these strict Digital Welfare Laws will offer vital lessons.

If the Korean government can demonstrate that highly regulated social media environments lead to tangible improvements in youth mental health without crippling the tech sector or violating fundamental privacy rights, it will provide a powerful template for other democracies struggling to govern technology’s impact on their youngest citizens.

Failure, however, could be seen as proof that the decentralized, global nature of the digital world is fundamentally beyond the control of even the most technologically advanced national governments.

Headline Points

Strict Intervention:

South Korea implemented new Digital Welfare Laws requiring mandatory controls on major social media platforms to address soaring rates of youth digital addiction.

Age Verification:

The law mandates that platforms (including Kakao, TikTok, and YouTube) must use state-approved identity verification systems for users under 18.

Parental Controls:

New regulations require platforms to offer enhanced parental control features, including mandatory time limits and activity monitoring, with financial penalties for non-compliance.

Controversy:

The law faces strong opposition from tech companies due to data privacy concerns and technical implementation burdens, while parents’ groups strongly support the protective measures.

Global Test Case:

South Korea’s action sets a significant global precedent for how advanced economies can regulate algorithms and digital platforms to mitigate mental health crises among adolescents.