Denmark’s government has since confirmed a political agreement: from now on, anyone under the age of fifteen will be banned from accessing certain social media platforms. It is a bold, sweeping step in Europe’s growing reckoning with how young people use the internet.
Yet this is not a total lockdown. Parents will still have a say: children aged thirteen or fourteen could gain access to selected social media apps but only after a “specific assessment.” The government has not yet revealed exactly which platforms will be restricted, though names like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube are being discussed.
Frederiksen pointed to worrying statistics. She argued that children are being exposed too early to digital stress, to anxiety and depression that can come from the relentless churn of social media. She described social media as a “monster,” a force that has grown too powerful in young lives.
Digital Affairs Minister Caroline Stage Olsen backed her up. She said that tech companies have had “free rein in children’s rooms for far too long,” and that Denmark must draw a line. According to her, nearly all Danes aged thirteen or older have a national electronic ID, which the government plans to use, via a new age-verification app, to enforce the ban.
Still, the plan will not be rushed. Stage has said the law could take months to pass. She wants to be careful to avoid loopholes that big tech companies might exploit.
Many in Denmark support the move. They see it as a way to protect children’s mental health, to guard their concentration, their sleep, and their ability to simply be kids offline, not tethered to a screen.
Other voices are more cautious. Critics wonder how enforceable such a ban will be, given how deeply social media is embedded in young people’s lives, and whether an age-verification system will be robust enough to stop evasion.
Still, for families who have watched their children scroll endlessly, refresh endlessly, and get sucked into the digital whirlwind, this feels like a turning point. It could be the beginning of a new chapter: one where childhood is not a constant negotiation with an algorithm, but a place to breathe, play, think, and grow safely, deliberately, and without being defined by likes, shares, or follows.
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