Denmark’s government has announced a plan to ban social media access for anyone under 15. The Ministry of Digitalization has led the move, allowing some parents to consent for children as young as 13 after assessment.
Archived version: https://archive.is/20251107204816/https://apnews.com/article/denmark-social-media-ban-children-7862d2a8cc590b4969c8931a01adc7f4
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And this is yet another cycle of censorship and bans which all they do is undermine the rights of teens and children along with other issues.
Like all other countries pushing it, they choose an arbitrary number - persuading the majority into false belief that this was the best option. Infantilising & essentially barring all rights which a teen holds is not justice - it’s indoctrination, setting a narrative that their independent thinking is flawed.
Unlike the other mandates, this one has the capability to reduce it to 13 year olds. This is the age where such ban should essentially stop. Of course, this comes to question if we need age bans at all. It is known that children (<13 years) are not fully developed, their critical thinking and independent thinking is virtually non-existent. Bans in this case might do some good, but even then effects are not clearly known.
Censorship, that is discriminatory; infantilises young people; and is fuelled by control over the young independent thinking people, shouldn’t exist. It’s been proven that the design is destined to fail, skills for circumventing censorship for an average teen is essentially a necessity.
In essence, teenagers will be the most impacted by this, trust being an important thing will be seen as single sided.
Yeah, it’s even worse than the other countries due to it being able to be reduced. “But Emma’s parents let her on social media, why do I need to wait until I’m 15? I hate you!” blah blah blah.