– It’s a clash of the world’s smartest tech brains against a child’s brain. It is a raw party, says Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) to news. From the family cabin in Kilsund outside Arendal, the Prime Minister is now for the first time delivering the clear political signal about strong restrictions on children’s use of social media. Every summer since he was a little toddler, he has vacationed here. And the issue of screen use engages him as a politician, but also as a father and grandfather. – We must get an age limit that we can enforce. And we have to get stricter regulation of functionality and content that is obviously harmful to children, he says. THE SEA: Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) takes the boat to the cabin in Kilsund near Arendal. Photo: William Jobling / news – Verdikamp The promise he makes is threefold: The government will set an absolute age limit for the use of social media this autumn. Whether it will be 13, 14 or 15 years has not yet been clarified. The age limit must be strictly enforced using electronic identification, which ensures that the user complies with the age limit. But it can take time to clarify which platform will be used. Content aimed at children and young people must be regulated more strictly, including advertising. This also applies to addictive functions such as autoplay and recommendation algorithms. – We are facing challenges that we cannot solve alone. It is a task for politics to address this, says Støre. He describes it as a battle of values – the battle against the algorithms that send children and young people into an endless series of video clips, and which can also expose them to impressions he believes they should have been spared from. – We do not accept that people exclude, harass, harm or exert commercial pressure on children. We also cannot accept that digital devices do this. The same rules must apply, he says. AGE LIMIT: The government announces stricter rules for children and young people. Photo: AP Controversial The idea of, for example, using BankID to enforce politically determined age limits on social media was criticized this autumn by the Norwegian Data Protection Authority and the Consumer Council. – Age verification challenges the basic rights children have, such as the right to participate, freedom of expression and information gathering, consumer director Inger Lise Blyverket told Klassekampen in May. The Norwegian Data Protection Authority emphasized in the same place that it is an important value to be able to move freely online and obtain information anonymously. The fact that many do not have access to BankID, as well as the fact that strict age control can make children and young people choose other and even more insecure platforms, are other objections in the debate. The Children’s Ombudsman is also skeptical that the challenges with children and social media can be solved by setting an age limit. – It can challenge a number of rights children and young people have, such as the right to participation, freedom of expression and information, says senior advisor Hilde Silkoset to news. She points out that there is currently a recommended age limit of 13 on most social media, but that parents consent to children having access earlier. – That consent falls under parental responsibility, says Silkoset. SCREEN TIME: Age limits on social media can challenge the rights of children and young people, say the critics. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB Has made up his mind All the objections are well known to the Prime Minister. It has been several months since ministers in his government launched the idea of age limits for the first time. Now he has nevertheless decided: The age limit is coming – and it must be enforced. – But are you confident that you will be able to find a way to enforce the age limit this autumn? – We have a clear ambition that we will find out how to do it. Then it may take some more time before the technical solution is in place. We have an age limit today, it’s obviously not working. Are we then to think that it is okay? I think that is wrong. Støre admits that it may take longer from the government’s decision this autumn until the technological platform for age control is in place, and says the government is closely following the process in the EU and other countries. – I don’t intend to accept that because we don’t have all the technological answers, we should just say that’s the way it is. After all, we have a law that says that aggressive marketing towards children is not legal. But I do see that 9- and 10-year-olds are aggressively pursued by advertising on screens that they have not chosen themselves, he says. BREAK: Støre asks both young and old to calm down on mobile phone use this summer – and warns of stricter age limits for social media. Photo: William Jobling / news Limiting content Støre also warns of stricter regulation of content aimed at children and young people, including those functions that involve videos and other content running in endless rows designed to hold children’s interest for a very long time . – When you say that you will ban content on social platforms, what kind of content are you talking about? – After all, there is violence, murder, scenes and content that it is normally forbidden to expose children to. We can’t have it the way that because there is something good on social media, we also have to live with what is quite obviously harmful. – But the fact that the state should control the use of social media and ban content on the internet is reminiscent of regimes that we don’t usually compare ourselves to? – Therefore, we have to do this in a very thorough way. The fact that we are a free democratic society does not mean that 9-year-olds should be exposed to cruel scenes online and spend four or five hours a day there. Even on TikTok During the interview with news, Støre’s own phone is never far away. And a few weeks ago he launched his own user on TikTok. – Do you see a paradox here? – Yes, I can understand that. But it is assumed that it happens within the rules and age limits that apply. 2 million Norwegians are on TikTok, and very many of them are voters who say they get their information there. I have to deal with this reality, he says. Støre is clear that adults themselves have a responsibility to take the lead and set limits for their own screen use – perhaps especially during the holidays. – There are good children’s TV offers, which you can get via a screen. But without getting nostalgic, I think it would be nice if the children were given more freedom to be out in nature and more free from the enormous attraction that this is, says Støre and shows his own phone. – What would you say to those who believe that the government is now going far into the parents’ area of responsibility? – As a society, we have laws that help us as parents and individuals. We have not left it up to parents to decide whether a 13-year-old can drive a car, watch horrific images, have access to drugs or whatever. We have laws and regulations for that, so it is this interaction that we have to achieve, he says. Published 02.07.2024, at 16.47
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Støre wants an age limit for social media – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
