Sweden proposes banning social media for children under 15
Kyiv • UNN
Sweden proposes banning social media for children under 15 due to health risks. The responsibility for age verification would be placed on platform owners.
On Tuesday, a Swedish government commission recommended introducing a minimum age limit of 15 for social media use. This was reported by Reuters, according to UNN.
Details
"The reasons for introducing age restrictions still outweigh the benefits of continued free access to this type of media," said Swedish researcher Lisa Englund Krafft at a joint press conference with Minister for Social Affairs and Public Health Jakob Forssmed.
She noted that the ban could be formulated in such a way that the responsibility for age verification would rest directly with the platform-owning companies.
Currently, Sweden has a limit of 13 years, starting from which children must have parental consent to create social media accounts.
"We are losing an entire generation to endless scrolling. Screens, social media, and their impact on the health of children and young people are one of the greatest challenges of our time,"
In neighboring Norway, the government stated in April that it plans to submit a bill to parliament by the end of the year to ban the use of social media by children under 16.
Recall
Several European countries are currently attempting to restrict children's use of social media after Australia became the first in the world to introduce a ban for teenagers under 16 last December.