Government extends mobile phone ban to 3rd cycle students

The Government has extended the ban on the use of mobile phones and other electronic mobile communication devices with Internet access in the school context to students in the 3rd cycle of basic education. The measure is contained in Decree-Law no. 176/2026, of September 3, published in the 1st series of the Diário da República, no. 171, and comes into force on the day following its publication.

The diploma introduces the first amendment to Decree-Law no. 95/2025, of August 14, which already restricted the use of these devices by students in the 1st and 2nd cycles. With the new regulation, the regime now covers all three cycles of basic education, following a logic of uniform application of rules in schools across the national territory.

Scope and exceptions

The restriction applies to mobile phones, commonly referred to as smartphones, and any other electronic mobile communication devices with Internet access. However, the regime provides for a set of expressly delimited exceptions, which allow the use of these devices in duly justified situations:

• pedagogical, health, or translation reasons, provided they are previously authorized by a responsible teacher or the person in charge of the activity;
• students in boarding school, during non-teaching periods, at times and in spaces defined by the management of the educational establishments.

The regulation also safeguards the pedagogical autonomy of schools in organizing daily educational activities.

Framework and background

The diploma is part of a broader normative orientation for the protection of children and young people in the digital environment, which provides for the establishment of a minimum digital age of 16 for autonomous access to platforms, services, games, and applications, as well as subjecting access between the ages of 13 and 16 to express and verified parental consent. At the European Union level, guidelines and technical age verification solutions have been developed within the framework of the Digital Services Act and the European Digital Identity Wallet.

The Government justifies the extension based on the high adherence of schools to the measures already in force and scientific evidence regarding the benefits of more limited and regulated use of technology during school age, pointing to impacts on concentration, socialization, and student well-being.

Implementation schedule

Decree-Law no. 176/2026 was approved in the Council of Ministers on July 30, 2026, promulgated on August 28, and countersigned on August 31. The internal regulations of educational establishments must be adapted to the new regime by January 1, 2027.

The measure was signed by the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, and the Minister of Education, Science and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, and was promulgated by the President of the Republic, António José Martins Seguro.

Impact

With the regulation coming into force, families, students, and schools across the country are now governed by a common framework restricting the use of mobile phones in the school context, now covering the entirety of basic education. The measure reinforces the school’s preventive role in reducing the early and excessive exposure of children and young people to digital environments that are potentially harmful to their development.

Source: Diário da República, 1st series, no. 171, September 3, 2026 (official reference: Decree-Law no. 176/2026).