Social media ban: Turkey votes yes, Norway drafts law
In Germany, a status report on children online is now available, while legal restrictions are becoming more concrete in Turkey and Norway.
(Image: Shutterstock.com/ Kaspars Grinvalds)
Considerations and measures regarding social media bans for adolescents are not abating internationally. This week, Turkey voted on a strict age limit for social media services, and Norway announced a draft law. In Turkey, they want to ban usage for individuals under 15 years old, and in Norway for those under 16.
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In Turkey, a corresponding legislative proposal was voted on late Wednesday evening, as reported by dpa. According to the proposal, providers of platforms such as Meta (Instagram, Threads, Facebook), ByteDance (TikTok), or Snap (Snapchat) will no longer be allowed to offer services to users under 15 years of age. Furthermore, they will be obliged to introduce age verification systems and parental control mechanisms. In addition, there will be new guidelines for handling official orders or blocked and deleted content. On the one hand, platforms must implement official orders within one hour in urgent cases. On the other hand, they must ensure that already blocked and deleted content does not reappear on their platforms. Fines and reduction of internet bandwidth are threatened for non-compliance. The opposition party CHP opposes this plan. Among other things, it accuses the government under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of introducing new restrictions under the guise of protecting children. The law still needs to be signed by Erdoğan and will come into force six months after publication in the official gazette.
Meanwhile, in Norway, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced a draft law for a social media ban for those under 16 years old. It is to be introduced in parliament by the end of the year. Part of the draft is a cut-off date regulation. The age limit will therefore be set on January 1st of the year in which a teenager celebrates their 16th birthday. According to the news agency NTB, this means that young people will only be allowed to use popular social media services from the tenth grade onwards. For Støre, the safety of children and adolescents is “one of the most important priorities in the government's plan.” He has been considering a legal restriction on social media use since his first day as Prime Minister. He has been in office since 2021.
Germany awaits commission work
In Germany, measures for dealing with social media offerings are to be developed with the help of the commission “Child and Youth Protection in the Digital World.” Early this week, it presented its status report, which is intended to serve as the basis for later recommendations. Federal Minister of Education Karin Prien (CDU) announced when the commission was established last summer that results should be available after about a year – i.e., this summer.
(kbe)
