Norway plans to enforce a strict minimum age limit on social media platforms to 15. The Norwegian government has upped the ante against tech companies. The government says tech companies are “pitted against small children’s brains”.
The prime minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre, said that it would be an “uphill battle” but the people responsible for the public welfare must do their part to protect children from the “power of the algorithms.”
Here is what he said to the newspaper VG. “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.”
He also emphasized that social media offers lonely children a community, but self-expression shouldn’t be controlled by algorithms. He said, “In fact, it can lead to a narrow mindset and passivity, as everything unfolds so quickly on these screens.”
The government is planning to enforce the new age restrictions by amending the Personal Data Act. According to this act, the users must be at least 15 to consent to their data being handled by platforms.
In addition to this, a new system for age verification for social media will be developed.
At the moment, the minimum age limit for social media use in Norway is 13. However, according to the Norwegian Media Authority’s research, over half of nine-year-olds, 58% of ten-year-olds, and 72% of eleven-year-olds are active on social media platforms.
An interesting fact is that most children above 9 are permitted to use YouTube, 87% to be precise.
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