The Danish authorities is proposing a ban on a number of social media apps for under-15s, in accordance with the nation’s prime minister.
“We now have unleashed a monster,” Mette Frederiksen informed Denmark‘s parliament on Tuesday.
“Cell phones and social media are stealing our kids’s childhood.”
Analysis printed by Denmark’s wellbeing fee earlier this yr discovered 94% of the nation’s younger folks had a social media profile earlier than they turned 13 – regardless of that being the minimal age for a lot of social media platforms.
It additionally discovered 9 to 14-year-olds have been spending a median of three hours a day on TikTok and YouTube.
Ms Frederiksen didn’t give particulars on how a ban can be enforced – a problem Australia is grappling with – however there’s some public assist for her proposal.
In 2024, 50,000 folks in Denmark signed a petition calling for a ban on TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.
Mother and father ought to be capable to give permission for his or her youngsters to have accounts from the age of 13, in accordance with Ms Frederiksen.
Earlier this yr, the Danish authorities additionally introduced it will ban cellphones in colleges and after-school golf equipment, that means that the majority youngsters aged between seven and 16-17 might be required by legislation to not deliver their telephones into college.
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Denmark’s restrictions comply with comparable strikes around the globe.
Within the UK, web and social media firms now face fines of as much as 10% of income if they permit younger customers to see dangerous content material, beneath sweeping laws the place age restrictions have been positioned on grownup content material.
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The UK authorities has additionally refused to rule out an all-out ban on under-16s on social media.
In Australia, under-16s might be banned from December, with the logistics of the ban at the moment being labored out.
A latest examine confirmed {that a} comparable system to the UK’s age verification may implement the ban within the nation.
In France, a parliamentary fee beneficial final month that youngsters beneath 15 ought to be banned from social media within the nation and there ought to be an in a single day “digital curfew” for 15-18 yr olds.
