Danish politicians say they would prefer a European age limit of 15 years for social media, warning that the EU Commission’s proposed limit of 13 must not weaken Denmark’s own stricter national rules.
The reactions came from Christiansborg after Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the plan. DR reports that Research, Education and Digitalization Minister Christina Egelund of the Moderates said Denmark would rather see a European age limit of 15.
According to DR, the Commission wants to impose restrictions on all online services offering social media, video sharing, online video games and AI chatbots to users under 18. At the press conference, von der Leyen said there should be no social media before the age of 13.
CNN reports that the proposal, known as the Kids Act, would ban social media for children under 13 and forbid personal accounts for anyone under 15. Children aged 13 and 14 would only be allowed parent-controlled mini-accounts, with stricter design rules applying up to age 18.
Bloomberg also reported on the package, which von der Leyen set out in her State of the Union address on September 16, 2026. DR has separately reported on a draft that would shut down children’s access to games and social media at night.
Calls for a stricter limit
Leila Stockmarr, children and education spokesperson for the Red-Green Alliance, told DR she is broadly enthusiastic that action is being taken at the highest level. She said the age limit should be raised to 15, and that the EU must not dilute the 15-year limit adopted in Denmark.
Per DR, Stockmarr also said her party would have liked the Commission to go further against what she calls addiction-creating design and business models at the tech platforms. She hopes all EU member states will back the initiative.
Marlene Harpsøe, children and education spokesperson for the Denmark Democrats, was more reserved. She called it fine that the EU wants to regulate the tech giants, but warned against taking authority away from individual parents. As reported by DR, she said she knows no parents who let their children play Minecraft or Roblox around the clock.
Harpsøe said the approach risks over-regulating in order to hit a larger problem, namely that the tech giants have had a free hand over the content they place on their platforms.
Egelund stressed the importance of a united Europe confronting social media that she says takes children’s childhood and time from them in a harmful way. She questioned whether it is far-reaching to demand that children be allowed to sleep at night, noting that some children lose sleep because of social media.
Denmark’s national age limit of 15 years has already been adopted by the government, according to DR. The Commission proposal must still pass through the EU’s legislative process.
