Denmark will transfer to ban social media for kids under 15, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated Tuesday, saying the web platforms are “stealing our children’s childhood.”
Speaking on the opening of the Danish parliament, Frederiksen stated her authorities would suggest a ban that additionally provides dad and mom the choice to approve social media use from age 13.
“We have said yes to mobile phones in our children’s lives in the best sense. So they can call home and communicate with their friends,” she stated.
“But the reality is that we have let a monster loose. Never before have so many children and young people suffered from anxiety and depression,” Frederiksen added.
The Danish prime minister stated many kids discover it tough to learn and focus, whereas some “see things they shouldn’t see” on-line.
Frederiksen additionally cited statistics exhibiting that 60% of boys aged 11 to 19 don’t bodily see a single buddy of their free time over the course of every week. (Frederiksen didn’t specify a supply for the numbers.)
“Do you think that number would be so high if it weren’t for the smartphone?” she requested.
“Mobile phones and social media are stealing our children’s childhood,” stated Frederiksen, including that the brand new regulation would imply “that we take better care of our children here in Denmark.”
The proposal comes after lawmakers voted to ban cell telephones from major colleges and after-school packages on the finish of September, a transfer beneficial by a wellbeing fee arrange by Frederiksen in 2023.
Denmark is one in every of numerous international locations that are taking motion to restrict kids’s entry to cell telephones and social media.
In November final yr, Australian lawmakers handed a world-first law banning social media for kids under 16, stipulating that tech firms should take “reasonable steps” to forestall under-age users from accessing social media companies or face fines of almost 50 million Australian {dollars} ($33 million).
Social media platforms lobbied in opposition to the ban, with TikTok working adverts touting its potential as an academic instrument and others arguing they already take steps to defend kids from some sorts of content material.
Norway’s prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, has additionally proposed a ban for users under 15 years of age and his authorities launched a public session for a brand new regulation in June.