Sweden Proposes Raising Social Media Age Limit to 15 to Safeguard Children
Sweden's Social Media Age Limit Proposal and International Context
Commission Recommendation and Rationale
STOCKHOLM, June 2 (Reuters) - Sweden should introduce a minimum age of 15 for the use of social media, a government-appointed commission recommended on Tuesday.
European and Global Efforts to Protect Children Online
• Several European nations are seeking to rein in children's use of social media after Australia took the lead with a world-first ban on under-16s in December last year.
Expert Opinions and Government Statements
• "The reasons for introducing an age limit nevertheless outweigh the benefits of continued free access to this type of media," Swedish investigator Lisa Englund Krafft told a news conference with Social Affairs and Public Health Minister Jakob Forssmed.
• A ban can be formulated in a way that the platform companies would be responsible for the task of age verification, she said.
Current Regulations and Concerns in Sweden
• In Sweden, there is currently a limit of 13 years for when children must have parental consent to create accounts on social media.
• "We are losing an entire generation to endless scrolling," Forssmed told the press conference. "Screens and social media and their impact on the health of children and young people is one of the biggest challenges of our time."
Regional Developments: Norway's Approach
• In neighbouring Norway, the government said in April it plans to submit a bill to parliament by year-end on banning social media use by under-16s.
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, Editing by William Maclean)
