Norway Raises SNS Age to 13 → 15

Norway has decided to raise the minimum age for using social network services and social media from 13 to 15.

According to the Guardian, the British daily newspaper on the 23rd, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Garstur announced in a media interview that politicians should intervene to protect children from the "power of algorithms."

Stur said he would introduce safeguards to prevent children from bypassing the age limit, such as revising the privacy law to set the age at which they can consent to use their personal information at 15 or older.

He said he understood that SNS can provide a community to lonely children, but insisted that self-expression should not be at the mercy of algorithms.

In a related development, Kirsty Tope, the children and family minister, said the move was also aimed at helping parents, as it provides a basis for not allowing young children access to social media.

Toffe said he was seeking ways to strengthen the measures to the extent that they did not infringe on human rights, saying it would give parents the power to reject children's requests.

Earlier in June last year, France enacted a bill to restrict the use of SNS by under-15s without approval from parents or guardians, and Australia is pushing for a similar bill.