Social media services, information society services.

Draft Act introducing an age limit for social media use

The draft Act introduces an age limit for the use of social media in Norway, so that children do not have access to social media until the year they turn 16.

The purpose of the Act is to protect children from the potential harmful effects of social media, see Section 2 in the impact assessment about the risks social media entails, as well as Section 1 of the draft Act.
Social media covered by the Act are information society services that allow users to create a profile and establish contact with other users, and that store and disseminate to the public content uploaded by users without editorial control over the content, see the definition of social media in Section 3.2 in the impact assessment and Section 2 of the draft Act.
Several exemptions from the age limit are being considered, including for services that mainly offer computer games, the purchase and sale of goods or services, closed groups related to education and leisure activities etc., and digital messaging services, see Section 3.4 in the impact assessment and Section 2(2) of the draft Act. The exemptions will be considered in during the EEA consultation process.
Two alternative proposals are being submitted for EEA consultation: One with and one without a harmfulness condition.
The ministries are considering whether the age limit should only apply to harmful social media, see Section 3.3 in the impact assessment and Section 2(3) and Section 4 of the draft Act. If the ministries conclude that a harmfulness condition should be included, this may lead to changes being made to the exemptions set out in Section 2(2) of the draft act, as the need for such exemptions may be reduced.
The Act applies to social media services that are directed at the Norwegian market, or that are provided by entities established in Norway, see Section 3.7 in the impact assessment and Section 3 of the draft Act for the geographical scope of the Act.
No sanctions are proposed against children or parents for non-compliance with the age limit.
It is assumed that social media providers implement appropriate measures, including a privacy-friendly age verification solution that complies with EEA law, to ensure that the national age limit is complied with. There is a presumption that the age limit can be enforced via the Digital Services Act (DSA) when this regulation has been incorporated into the EEA Agreement and implemented into Norwegian law.
It is proposed that national authorities shall determine which social media according to the definition in the Act shall have an age limit under national law, as well as supervise these, see Section 3.8 in the impact assessment and Section 5 of the draft Act.
In the opinion of the Ministry of Children and Families and the Ministry of Digitalisation and Public Administration, the proposal is in accordance with EEA law, see Section 4 in the impact assessment.