Accusing social media companies of exploiting and manipulating young people, the government of Norway announced it is to prohibit the use of their platforms by children under 15 years old. The minimum age is currently set at 13 years old.
Despite this, more than half of nine-year-olds, 58% of 10-year-olds and 72% of 11-year-olds are on social media, according to research by the Norwegian media authority.
The government has pledged to introduce more safeguards to prevent children from getting around the age restrictions – including amending the Personal Data Act so that social media users must be 15 years old to agree that the platform can handle their personal data, and developing an age verification barrier for social media.
"It sends quite a strong signal," the prime minister told the newspaper VG on Wednesday. "Children must be protected from harmful content on social media. These are big tech giants pitted against small children's brains. We know that this is an uphill battle, because there are strong forces here, but it is also where politics is needed."
You can't hold back the kids. You can run down the companies.
Previously:
• Susie Bright: Raising the Minimum Age for Porn
• British Columbia government forces Vancouver dad to end his kids' free-range city bus rides to school
• Tennessee GOP pushes bill to eliminate age requirement for marriage
• Vermont bill would ban child marriage, making it just the seventh US state to do so
