Norway drops exemptions for games and messaging apps from proposed social media age limit

Norway plans to apply its proposed social media age limit to platforms considered harmful to children, dropping earlier proposals to exempt messaging services and video games. The government has identified TikTok, Roblox and Snapchat as platforms that would be covered under the revised approach. The bill is expected to reach parliament by the end of 2026, although the government has not announced when the restrictions would take effect or what penalties would apply.

What changed

The proposed law previously included a list of exemptions, including messaging services and games, to avoid affecting harmless apps such as school communication tools. The government has now replaced this approach with a single condition: the law will apply only to social media platforms that pose a risk of harm to children.

With this condition in place, blanket exemptions are no longer necessary and are being removed. Messaging services and games will not be categorically excluded; they will be covered if they meet the harm test.

The government maintains that this change will not reduce the law’s scope. It argues that a risk-based test can identify harmful services, such as games with social media features, that a fixed list of exemptions might have missed.

How “harmful” is defined

The law defines a harmful social medium as one whose design, features or content create a risk to children’s emotional, cognitive or physical development or safety.

The government says the law is intended to address several types of risk:

• Exposure to harmful content
• Addictive features
• Illegal marketing
• Unwanted contact from strangers

Assessments of what constitutes harm will be based on current knowledge and updated as technology evolves. The government describes this as a more flexible approach, but its announcement does not specify who will conduct these assessments or how frequently they will take place.

• The age limit will apply until 1 January of the year in which a child turns 16. As written, this appears to mean that eligibility will be determined by birth year rather than the exact birthday, although the announcement does not explicitly clarify this.
• The proposed law has undergone consultation in Norway and across the wider European Economic Area (EEA).

How it would be enforced

The proposal is a national age-limit law that activates the enforcement and sanctioning obligations already contained in the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). In Norway, the DSA is to be implemented through a national Digital Services Act, which has undergone consultation but is not yet in force.

The national law must come into force before enforcement can begin. Digitalisation Minister Torgeir Micaelsen said that implementing the law quickly is a high priority and will equip Norway to enforce the age limit on major platforms. He added that the government expects companies to comply immediately.

Platforms will be responsible for choosing their own age-verification methods. These methods must be effective, privacy-friendly and compliant with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The government has not specified any particular technology.

What the announcement does not say

The announcement leaves several questions unanswered:

• No start date: The government has only stated that it intends to submit the bill by the end of 2026.
• No penalties specified: The announcement does not specify fines or other sanctions.
• No decision-maker identified: It does not say which authority will determine whether a platform is harmful or what procedure it will follow.
• Enforcement depends on another law: Enforcement relies on Norway’s national Digital Services Act, which has not yet been enacted.
• The government’s claim remains untested: The assertion that the risk-based test will not narrow the law’s scope reflects the government’s position. How games and messaging services will be treated in practice will depend on how the harm criteria are applied.

Read more:

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