According to Agence France-Presse, Copenhagen Post and other media sources, on October 7, local time, Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen announced that the government intends to ban minors under the age of 15 from using social media.
On the same day, Frederiksen announced this initiative in the opening speech of the autumn session of the Danish Parliament.
She said: “Mobile and social media are taking away the childhood of our children...We have released a monster where so many children and young people have never suffered from anxiety and depression before.” She quoted a survey adding that 60 percent of Danish boys aged 11 to 19 prefer to stay at home rather than go out with friends.
According to Fraserrickson, under the ban, teenagers over the age of 13 will be allowed to use social media with parental consent, but she did not specify which social media platforms would be included in the ban, nor how the ban would be enforced in actual operation.
Denmark is not the first country to ban social media for teenagers.
At the end of last year, the Australian parliament passed a bill banning minors under the age of 16 from using most social media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube. Social media companies will be fined at a maximum of $50 million ($2.3 billion) if they fail to take reasonable measures to prevent people under the age of 16 from using their platforms.
At present in Germany, minors aged 13 to 16 are required to use social media platforms with parental consent. French President Emmanuel Macron also said in June this year that the EU would push to ban access to social media for minors aged 15 and if the EU does not take action, France would consider its own legislation.
In addition, in June this year, Greece also proposed a “digital adult age” across EU member states, where minors could not use social media without parental consent.