Norway extends social media age limit to 15 in revised child safety legislation

The Norwegian government has proposed raising the minimum age for social media use from 13 to 15 years, with the Ministry of Children and Families citing concerns over mental health impacts, exposure to harmful content, and contact-based risks including grooming and sexual exploitation. The proposal, which would require platforms to implement age verification measures and face enforcement action for non-compliance, is part of a broader child online safety strategy and follows similar moves in France and several Australian states.

Age limits restrict access for compliant children but do not address the behavior of offenders, who migrate to unregulated platforms and encrypted channels where younger users remain reachable and no monitoring exists. Rather than raising barriers to entry, Guardii provides real-time interception of harm wherever contact occurs: its detection modules for grooming, sextortion, cyberbullying and age-inappropriate contact operate across platforms including Instagram, Snapchat, Discord and Roblox, analysing conversational cues to flag predatory patterns and surface a child at risk to a parent, school or safeguarding authority. By detecting threats based on behavior rather than blocking access based on age, the system addresses the underlying harm without displacing young users to less visible environments.