The Danish government cracks down on the use of social networks by very young people. The Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, said that the executive will propose a law to ban the use of social networks by people under 15 years of age. Based on the provision, whose presentation is expected on a date yet to be defined, parents will have the possibility to authorize their children to use them starting from the age of 13. The application of this ban was not detailed by the prime minister who presented the idea during her speech opening the parliamentary session.
Frederiksen said that smartphones and social networks “are stealing the childhood” of many children and explained that the rule is necessary because their use can cause anxiety, depression and lack of concentration in minors. According to the Danish leader, 60 percent of the country’s children aged between 11 and 19 “stay at home rather than going out to see friends during free time every week”.
Other examples in the world
Denmark, in time, would be the third country in the world to adopt such a measure. At an international level, Australia was leading the way: its parliament approved a law at the end of 2024 that bans the use of social media such as TikTok, X, Facebook and Instagram by children under 16.
Currently, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) establishes that the minimum age for consent to the processing of personal data is 13 years, the threshold from which it is possible to open an account on most social networks. However, Member States can set higher limits. In Italy, autonomous registration on social media is theoretically only permitted from the age of 14, but in practice there is a lack of effective controls to verify the age of users.
Following the Australian example and based on the GDPR rules, Greece last June proposed establishing a digital age of majority at EU level, below which minors will not be able to access social media without parental consent. As regards Italy, however, more restrictive policies on the use of smartphones in schools have recently been introduced. The debate to introduce further restrictions is still open and governments’ prerogative is to protect the mental health of adolescents.
