Denmark to ban social media for children aged under 15
The Danish government has announced a political agreement that will ban anyone under the age of 15 from accessing social media, in a move that follows Australia’s recent reforms.
The measures will set the age limit for access to social media but will give some parents the right to allow their children to access social media from the age of 13, following a specific assessment.
Such a measure would be one of the most comprehensive steps ever taken by a European government to address concerns about social media use among teenagers and young children.
This will follow a move in Australia in December, when parliament introduced the world’s first ban on social media for children, setting the minimum age at 16.
This has resulted in platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram being subject to fines of up to $50 million due to systematic errors that prevent children under 16 from having accounts.
“Denmark, one of the first countries in the EU, is taking a groundbreaking step towards introducing age restrictions on social media. This is done to protect children and young people in the digital world,” the Ministry of Digitalization said in a statement. he said.
A coalition of parties on both the right and left of politics “make clear that children must not be left alone in a digital world where harmful content and commercial interests are an all-too-important part of shaping their daily lives and childhoods.”
The report said children and young people are experiencing disrupted sleep, losing concentration and experiencing the increasing pressure of digital relationships where adults are not always there.
“We are finally drawing a line in the sand,” said Minister for Digitalization Caroline Stage.
