Denmark's government aims to ban access to social media for children aged under 15

Denmark’s government on Friday announced an agreement to ban access to social media for anyone under 15, ratcheting up pressure on Big Tech platforms as concerns grow that kids are getting too swept up in a digitized world of harmful content and commercial interests.The move, led by the Ministry of Digitalization, aims to set the age limit for access to social media but give some parents—after a specific assessment—the right to give consent to let their children access social media from age 13.Such a measure would be among the most sweeping steps yet by a European government to limit use of social media among teens and younger children, which has drawn concerns in many parts of an increasingly online world.It follows a move in December in Australia, where parliament enacted the world’s first ban on social media for children—setting the minimum age at 16.That made platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram subject to fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts.The Danish ministry statement said the age minimum of 15 would be introduced for “certain” social media, though it did not specify which ones. Nor did the statement indicate how such a move would be enforced in a world where millions of children have easy access to screens.Read: Dr. Jabir Jassam: Have fun under the sunBut the move nonetheless was likely to stir debate well beyond Denmark’s borders.A coalition of lawmakers from the political right, left and centre “are making it clear that children should not be left alone in a digital world where harmful content and commercial interests are too much a part of shaping their everyday lives and childhoods,” the ministry said.“Children and young people have their sleep disrupted, lose their peace and concentration, and experience increasing pressure from digital relationships where adults are not always present,” it said. “This is a development that no parent, teacher or educator can stop alone."Pressure from tech giants' business models was “too massive,” the ministry said. It cited a comment from Digitalization Minister Caroline Stage saying Danish authorities were “finally drawing a line in the sand and setting a clear direction.”Many governments have been grappling with ways of limiting harmful fallout from online technologies, without overly squelching their promise.China—which manufacturers many of the world's digital devices—has set limits on online game time and smart-phone time for kids. Prosecutors in Paris this week announced an investigation into allegations that TikTok allows content promoting suicide and that its algorithms may encourage vulnerable young people to take their own lives.The European Union-wide Digital Services Act forbids children younger than 13 to hold accounts on social media like TikTok and Instagram, video sharing platforms like YouTube and Twitch, sites like Reddit and Discord, as well as AI companions. Some EU lawmakers want to raise the age to 16 during a Nov. 24 vote in the European Parliament.The 27-nation EU’s executive, the European Commission, issued guidelines in July to strengthen protection of minors and rolled out a prototype of an age-verification app.Rasmus Lund-Nielsen, an Danish lawmaker of the Moderates party, said social media has become “the Wild West.”“Every other 10-year-old is on TikTok, but now we are setting a limit,” he said. “It is not just a parental responsibility to protect children from seeing Charlie Kirk being shot in the throat on social media.”“When 60% of boys do not see their friends outside of school, only 12% of girls exercise enough to meet (World Health Organization) recommendations and 15% receive a psychiatric diagnosis before they turn 18, society must step in and take responsibility,” he said. “Now we are giving children their childhood back.”

Denmark's government aims to ban access to social media for children aged under 15

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