There are exceptional cases in which parents can consent to access
The Danish government announced this Friday a political agreement to prohibit access to social networks for minors under 15 years of age.
The measure, led by the Ministry of Digitalization, establishes the age limit for accessing social networks, but allows, in certain cases with a specific assessment, that parents have the right to consent to their children accessing social networks from the age of 13.
If it goes ahead, the measure would be among the most comprehensive ever taken by a European government to address concerns about social media use among teenagers and children.
“As one of the first countries in the EU, Denmark is now taking an innovative step towards introducing age limits on social media. This is done to protect children and young people in the digital world”, said the Danish executive in a statement, cited by the Associated Press.
To the same media outlet, the Danish ministry states that the coalition of parties from both the right and the left “is making it clear that children should not be left alone in a digital world where harmful content and commercial interests are an integral part of their daily lives and childhood”.
“Children and young people have disturbed sleep, lose peace and concentration and suffer increasing pressure from digital relationships, where adults are not always present”, added the Government in the statement.
In December, the world’s first ban on social media for children comes into force in Australia, setting the minimum age at 16 years old.
This has made platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Reddit, X, Instagram and Snapchat subject to fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars (around 28 million euros) for systemic failures in preventing children under 16 from having accounts.
On Thursday, Denmark also reported that it is seeking to prevent the manipulation of citizens’ images, with ‘deepfake’ techniques, through a bill that prohibits the sharing of this manipulated content.
At issue is a bill that should be approved at the beginning of next year to change the copyright law and impose a ban on sharing ‘deepfakes’ to protect the personal characteristics of citizens.
