The Danish Government is working on a ban on social media for children under the age of fifteen. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen Links The Use of Social Media to Anxiety, Depression and Concentration Problems. The Ban May Take Effect From Next Year.
In a speech the opening of the Danish Parliament, Frederiksen cited figures showing that 60 percent of boys aged eleven to nineteen did not see any friends in their free time. In Denmark, 94 percent of children have a social media account before the age of thirteen. “Telephones are stealing their childhood.”
Accordance to the prime minister, many children also have difficulty reading and writing. In Addition, Children and Young People see things online that they “should never see”. Frederiksen Presented the Plan for the Social Media Ban to Her Colleagues. “We have unleashed a monster,” the prime minister Said. “Never before have so many children and young people suffered from anxiety and depression.”
The proposal does not yet make clear which social media the ban would apply to. Frederiksen Spoke or “Various” platforms. She said that parents would have the opportunity to allow their children to use social media from the age of thirteen.
The Danish Minister of Digitalization, Caroline Stage, Called the Announcement A “Breakthrough”. She stated that digital platforms were never concerned with the “Well-Being of Children” and that the community “Has Been Naive”. The Danish Government Hopes That the Ban Can Take Effect Next Year.
Denmark is Following the Example of Australia. That country recent introduced a ban on Facebook, Snapchat, Tiktok and YouTube for children under the age of sixteen. Norway alsoy a ban on social media up to the age of fifteen.