Sweden, following the example of Australia, wants to introduce age restrictions for social networks
The Swedish government is considering the possibility of introducing age restrictions on the use of social networks due to the increase in crime among children. About this informs edition of Vienna.at.
Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Stremmer said that such measures are aimed at preventing the use of minors by organized criminal groups to commit murders or bombings.
“The situation is very serious. We are not ruling anything out”, – he noted.
According to Swedish police, in recent years gangs have been actively using social platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and others to recruit teenagers, including children as young as 11. In the period from January to July 2024, the country recorded 93 murder suspects under the age of 15, which is three times higher than the figure for the same period last year.
Sweden also has the highest rate of fatal shootings in Europe per capita, adding to the urgency of the issue. According to Stremmer, companies such as Meta (owner of Facebook), Google (part of Alphabet) and Snap (operator of Snapchat) have expressed willingness to work on a solution to the situation. However, if the results of their actions turn out to be insufficient, the government plans to take decisive measures.
