Norway is planning to increase the minimum age limit of using social media to the age of 15, in a bid to safeguard children from the “power of the algorithms”, said the Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store on Wednesday (Oct 23).
The latest move is part of the Norwegian government’s campaign against tech giants as they target them for “pitting against small children’s brains.”
Gahr Store said on Wednesday that it will be “an uphill battle” for the government to go against these tech companies but politicians must intervene to protect children. The Labour leader further blamed social media platforms for misusing users’ data and making them “single-minded and pacified.”
The Scandinavian country already has a minimum age limit of 13 in place. Despite this, more than half of nine-year-olds, 58 per cent of 10-year-olds and 72 per cent of 11-year-olds are on social media, according to research by the Norwegian media authority.
To government will now enforce new age restrictions for children, amending the Personal Data Act, so that users must 15 years old to agree that the platform can handle their personal data. An age verification barrier on social media will also be developed, as per reports.
“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. “
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While he agrees that social media could offer lonely children a community, self-expression must not be in the power of algorithms. “On the contrary, it can cause you to become single-minded and pacified, because everything happens so fast on this screen,” he added.
The Minister for Children and Families, Kjersti Toppe said the measure was also intended to help parents.
“It is also about giving parents the security to say no. We know that many people really want to say no, but don’t feel they can,” Toppe said.
She said the government was investigating methods of enforcing such restrictions that did not intervene with human rights, such as the requirement for a bank account.
Not just Norway, Australia also announced a social media ban for younger teenagers and children, saying it would block children from social media and other digital platforms. The age limit has not yet been decided but it is likely to be between 14 and 16.
France is running a pilot ban on mobile phones at school for pupils up to the age of 15. If successful, it could be introduced nationwide in January.
(With inputs from agencies)