The Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization (MIRRI SR) is submitting a draft law on the protection of minors in the digital environment to inter-ministerial review. The proposal was developed in cooperation with experts, parents, schools, and children themselves. It was presented on Tuesday in Varhaňovce in the Prešov district, with the ministry stating that the goal is not to ban children from using technology, but to set clear rules for safe, age-appropriate use.
The draft introduces a technically enforceable minimum age of 15 for access to high-risk digital services, modern age verification through the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI), stronger parental controls, increased platform accountability, and, for the first time, a right for minors to erase their digital footprint.
According to the ministry, regulation will not be tied to specific apps or social networks, but to the risks individual services pose to children. The proposal is expected to cover online games, addictive or gambling-like mechanisms, AI-based services, protection of minors’ privacy including the right to delete their digital trace, as well as child influencers.
The law also responds to phenomena that have not yet been addressed by legislation, such as addictive game mechanics, commercial use of minors’ data, AI services, and child influencers in the digital economy.
The proposal was preceded by dozens of consultations with pediatricians, psychologists, lawyers, the Police Force, the Slovak Bar Association, ministries of education and labor, digital safety experts, and platform representatives.
“Our work was mainly about understanding from practice what it actually looks like and how children perceive it. That is why we visited schools in Bratislava, as well as in eastern Slovakia, in Košice and Prešov. It mainly involved secondary schools, specifically first-year students, because it primarily concerns children aged 14, 15, and 16. They themselves said there is a difference between a child who is already in the first year of secondary school and one who is in the eighth or ninth grade of primary school. They said they previously used digital technologies much more because they were not aware of the risks or their impact on health,” said Soňa Hanzlovičová, head of the department for the protection of minors in the digital space at MIRRI SR.
The ministry also emphasized that the law does not address cyberbullying, which it says requires separate legislation. It is also intended as a standalone law that can respond flexibly to rapid technological development without needing to reopen broader legal frameworks.
“As an educator and school principal, I see this proposal as an important step. The digital world is affecting younger and younger age groups, so it is important that clear rules and ethical principles in legislation go hand in hand with this. We welcome this initiative as a school,” said Rastislav Bruzda, principal of the primary school in Varhaňovce.
According to MIRRI, the proposal goes significantly further than mobile phone restrictions in schools, which address only part of the problem during lessons. The new rules apply to the entire digital environment in which children operate—at home, at school, and anywhere else.
Member of Parliament and former investment minister Veronika Remišová (Slovensko – Za ľudí) criticized the proposal to ban social networks for children under 15 as unprepared, chaotic, and lacking clear expert, technical, and legal grounding. She also pointed out that there are two competing draft laws on the same issue from two ministries within the same government that cannot agree. She raised concerns about age verification via the European Digital Identity Wallet, protection of sensitive children’s data, platform enforcement, sanctions, and the risk that children might migrate to smaller or less regulated platforms after a ban. She stressed that protecting children online is a correct goal, but the law must be properly prepared in an expert, technically sound, and constitutionally robust way.
The opposition party PS also criticized the fact that two ministers from the same government are presenting two different proposals on regulating social networks for children, with the education ministry proposing a limit of 16 years under Minister Tomáš Drucker (Hlas-SD) and the investment ministry proposing a ban under 15 under Minister Samuel Migaľ (independent). According to PS, this creates confusion and legislative chaos instead of clear and predictable rules, and they argue Slovakia should move toward a single unified approach.
“Legislation has already been presented and is in the legislative process. It was prepared by the Ministry of Education in cooperation with several ministries—including the interior, health, labor, and justice ministries. It is not only about restricting social networks, but about comprehensive legislation that creates an integrated system for supporting and responding to violence in the online environment. It is not enough just to ban something; we also need to ensure how to work with children who are often at risk online. There is no need to rush or engage in political marketing. We are ready to discuss this with Minister Migaľ and anyone genuinely interested in supporting and protecting children, not in press conferences about who is first, second, or third. We are ready to join forces at both national and European level,” said Drucker.
Source: TASR
