Norway to ban social media use among teens under 15 to protect them from 'power of algorithm'

The Norwegian government will increase the age limit to 15 for social media use among teenagers in an effort to shield children from the “power of algorithm”, Norway’s prime minister has said.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre realises that protecting teens from big tech companies, which he believes is “pitted against small children’s brains”, is an uphill task, but said political leaders have a responsibility towards the protection of teens in the country.

Although Norway already has a minimum age limit of 13 for teens to access social media, studies have found that children as young as nine years have social media accounts while  58 per cent of 10-year-olds and 72 per cent of 11-year-olds use social media apps.

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The government is committed to implementing stricter measures to prevent children from bypassing age restrictions. This includes revising the Personal Data Act to require social media users to be at least 15 years old to consent to the platform processing their personal information and creating an age verification system for social media platforms.

“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,” Støre told the local newspaper VG.

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A few months ago, the Australian government also banned children from using social media with a minimum age limit as high as 16.

Many countries around the world are ramping up efforts to ensure their children are not exposed to harmful content on social media.

Meanwhile, UK introduced a new bill earlier this year that forced social media platforms to reduce the addictive nature of their content for teens under 16.

The proposed “Safer Phones Bill” aims to prevent young users from being drawn into social media rabbit holes by excluding them from algorithm-driven content. With strong backing from Labour, Conservatives, and child protection experts, this initiative seems to have gained significant political momentum.

With inputs from agencies