Danish PM Proposes Ban On Social Media For Children Below 15

Last Updated:October 08, 2025, 02:15 IST

Mette Frederiksen announced Denmark will ban social media for children under 15, citing rising anxiety and depression. Parents may allow access from age 13

Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (Image: AP)

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Tuesday said the country will ban social media for children under the age of 15 as mobile phones and social networks were “stealing our children’s childhood”.

Speaking on the first day of Folketing, the Danish parliament, Frederiksen announced the proposal and said: “We have unleashed a monster. Never before have so many children and young people suffered from anxiety and depression.”

She further said many children were also suffering from difficulty in reading and concentrating as “on screens they see things no child or young person should see”.

While not specifying which social networks will be included in the ban, she said that it would cover “several” social media platforms.

The Guardian quoted the PM citing figures showing that 60% of 11- to 19-year-old boys did not see a single friend in their free time, while 94% of Danish children in seventh grade had a profile on social media before they were 13.

“Mobile phones and social media are stealing our children’s childhood,” she said.

The Guardian quoted the PM as saying that there would be an option for parents to give permission to their children to use social media from the age of 13. The ban will likely come into effect by next year.

Following this, Denmark’s minister of digitalisation, Caroline Stage, said her government’s announcement was a “breakthrough”. She said: “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: we’ve been too naive. We’ve left children’s digital lives to platforms that never had their wellbeing in mind. We must move from digital captivity to community.”

This follows a similar ban imposed in Australia. The country is introducing a ban on social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube for children under 16. Besides, Norway Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has said he would enforce a strict minimum age limit of 15 on social media, raising it from 13.

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