Norway is expanding its proposed social media ban for children under 16 to include potentially harmful online games and messaging apps, with the government aiming to finalize the bill and submit it to parliament by the end of the year, de.euronews.com reported.
Expanding the Scope Beyond Traditional Social Networks
The upcoming legislation targets platforms that expose minors to addiction mechanisms, harmful content, illegal advertising, and unwanted contact with strangers. Initially, the Norwegian government intended to exclude online games and messaging services from the restrictions. Officials have since shifted their approach, choosing to evaluate every platform individually based on the specific risks it poses to children.
Norway in the early 1900s was facing a quiet crisis: children were chronically undernourished. Industrialization had pulled families into cities faster than public health systems could adapt, and many working‑class kids arrived at school hungry or surviving on bread and coffee.… pic.twitter.com/qSC56Btoz0
Popular digital environments such as TikTok, Snapchat, and Roblox are expected to fall under the new rules. Meanwhile, services deemed harmless—such as messaging tools utilized strictly for school communication—will remain accessible to minors.
Balancing Child Safety with the Right to Participation
Lene Vågslid, Norway’s Minister for Children and Families, emphasized the priority of child safety while acknowledging policy tensions. “The safety of children must come first,” Vågslid stated, noting that the legislative draft is nearly complete.
Despite these safeguards, the administration aims to preserve what it terms the “right to participation” for children. The specific mechanism for reconciling these strict limitations with minor participation rights was left unaddressed in the government’s announcement.
Regulatory Mechanics and European Context
Under the proposed framework, enforcement and age verification responsibilities will rest directly on technology companies. Their identification and authentication systems must comply with stringent European data privacy regulations.
The current minority social-democratic administration first introduced a preliminary framework in 2025 targeting children under 15. In April of this year, authorities raised that minimum age threshold to 16. A formal consultation process has been active across Norway and the broader European Economic Area since that adjustment.
Norway’s legislative push mirrors broader regulatory efforts across Europe. Denmark has adopted similar rules, while Spain is developing restrictions for students under 16. In France, an effort in September to block social media access for children under 15 was blocked by the Constitutional Council over freedom of expression concerns. At the European Union level, the European Commission proposed the EU Kids Act in September, which establishes comparable age-dependent limitations for social networks, video games, and other digital services.
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