This Country Is Pushing to Ban SNS Use for Under 15-Year-Olds

Norway Raises Minimum Age for SNS Use from 13 to 15 Years

As concerns over the side effects of social networking services (SNS) grow, countries around the world are rushing to enact 'SNS age restriction laws,' and Norway has also decided to raise the minimum age for SNS use from the current 13 to 15 years old.

According to the British daily The Guardian on the 23rd (local time), Jonas Gahr Støre, Prime Minister of Norway, revealed in a media interview that politicians must intervene to protect children from the "power of algorithms" and announced the policy to raise the age limit for SNS use.

Prime Minister Støre said that they will revise the Personal Data Protection Act to set the age at which consent to use personal data can be given at 15 or older, introducing safeguards to prevent children from bypassing age restrictions. However, he also noted that while children need to be protected from harmful SNS content, it will likely be a difficult battle against major tech companies.

Currently, Norway sets the minimum age for SNS access at 13. However, according to government investigations, more than half of 9-year-olds, 58% of 10-year-olds, and 72% of 11-year-olds are accessing SNS. The reason the Norwegian government is trying to introduce SNS age restriction laws appears to be that youth SNS addiction has emerged as a serious social problem.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Norway is not the only country pushing to limit SNS use among youth. Earlier, the French government announced in May that it is considering banning video viewing for children under 3 years old and smartphone use for children under 13, citing negative effects on infants' and children's eyesight and concentration. President Emmanuel Macron also said in January that there "may be bans or restrictions" on children's video viewing and smartphone use.

Australia is also pursuing similar legislation. On the 10th of last month, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appeared on local ABC broadcasting and said that a pilot project would soon be conducted to introduce SNS age restriction laws within the year. Prime Minister Albanese said that the minimum age for SNS use has not been set but is expected to be between 14 and 16 years old, adding, "I want to see kids put down their electronic devices and go out to the playground. I want kids to have real experiences with people in reality."

The Australian government's move to restrict SNS use comes amid ongoing youth SNS addiction and related incidents of violence and hate. In April, a 16-year-old boy's knife attack at a church in Sydney sparked outrage after it was revealed that the boy belonged to an extremist group that operated through SNS.