Denmark vows to fight Brussels' freeze on national social-media age limits

02/11/2026
3
Abstract illustration of a frosted pause symbol over a grid of blank red, blue and white app tiles on a faint map of Europe

Copenhagen's plan to keep under-15s off TikTok and Snapchat from July 2027 is in doubt after the European Commission said it will put overlapping national laws on hold for 12 months while it pushes a single EU rule. Denmark's digital minister says she is "uncomprehending" and will take the fight to Brussels and other capitals.

Denmark's government will try to persuade the European Commission to let it introduce a national age limit for social media, despite Brussels' decision to freeze such laws for a year, digital minister Christina Egelund said on Monday.

"I am disappointed and uncomprehending about the Commission's announcement. It is not reasonable for the Commission to create a vacuum in which the protection of children and young people is lower than it could have been," Egelund said in a written reply to the Danish news agency Ritzau, published by Berlingske (translated). She said she would raise the matter "both with the Commission and with the other member states that are also being held back".

What Brussels decided

Last Thursday, Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters: "The Commission has decided to postpone for 12 months any draft national laws overlapping with the future harmonised rules." The move was first reported by Politico Europe and AFP, and summarised by The Next Web.

The legal basis is the EU's notification procedure for technical rules, under which member states must send draft laws to Brussels before adopting them. If the Commission finds within three months that a draft covers ground already in a pending EU proposal, it can impose a 12-month standstill. The trigger was Austria's draft, notified on 28 July, which would set an age limit of 14 for video-sharing platforms. According to Agence Europe, the Austrian freeze runs until 28 July 2027 and could be extended by six months. Belgian, Slovak and Portuguese drafts would also be caught, while French, Italian and Greek plans, notified earlier, would not.

The Commission's own proposal, the so-called Kids Act presented on 17 September, would bar under-13s from most social media, restrict access for 13- to 15-year-olds and ban addictive design features such as infinite scrolling, DR reported. It still has to be agreed by the European Parliament and member states.

Why Denmark is exposed

Denmark's government, backed by the opposition Liberals and Conservatives, agreed a national limit of 15. The bill was due to be tabled in early 2027, with age verification from 1 July 2027. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has called it a historic step.

Because the Danish law has not yet been adopted, it is unlikely to qualify for an exemption, said Christel Schaldemose, a Social Democrat MEP who led Parliament's negotiations on the Digital Services Act. "Unfortunately I think Denmark will be covered by this," she told DR (translated). She estimates that a Danish age limit could now arrive no earlier than 2029, since EU laws typically take about three years to take effect. Politico Europe has reported that the Kids Act may not apply before 2028.

Regnier said some countries far along in the process may keep their rules, but declined to comment on individual cases. Egelund did not say whether Copenhagen still expects its limit to start in July 2027.

Why it matters

The dispute pits Brussels' single-market argument, that platforms cannot comply with 27 different age limits, against capitals that see child safety online as urgent. Austria's state secretary Alexander Pröll called the freeze "unacceptable" in comments to Politico Europe. For platforms such as TikTok, Meta and Snap, a single EU standard may be easier to implement, but the delay also could leave much of Europe without binding age limits until 2028 or later.

Children's rights group Børns Vilkår told DR that "the children are the losers in this case" (translated).

Sources

Image: AI-generated illustration.

Recent

London trading firm LO:TECH raises $12m to take round-the-clock market making to New York and Singapore

Creandum raises a record $750m, betting on AI and San Francisco as Europe's pension money stays on the sidelines

Veriff co-founder’s Roleo raises €2.9m for an AI agent that lets tech workers skip job applications

UK pension savers to back quantum and battery start-ups as Scottish Widows fund makes first venture bets

Denmark vows to fight Brussels' freeze on national social-media age limits

02/11/2026
3
Abstract illustration of a frosted pause symbol over a grid of blank red, blue and white app tiles on a faint map of Europe

Copenhagen's plan to keep under-15s off TikTok and Snapchat from July 2027 is in doubt after the European Commission said it will put overlapping national laws on hold for 12 months while it pushes a single EU rule. Denmark's digital minister says she is "uncomprehending" and will take the fight to Brussels and other capitals.

Denmark's government will try to persuade the European Commission to let it introduce a national age limit for social media, despite Brussels' decision to freeze such laws for a year, digital minister Christina Egelund said on Monday.

"I am disappointed and uncomprehending about the Commission's announcement. It is not reasonable for the Commission to create a vacuum in which the protection of children and young people is lower than it could have been," Egelund said in a written reply to the Danish news agency Ritzau, published by Berlingske (translated). She said she would raise the matter "both with the Commission and with the other member states that are also being held back".

What Brussels decided

Last Thursday, Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier told reporters: "The Commission has decided to postpone for 12 months any draft national laws overlapping with the future harmonised rules." The move was first reported by Politico Europe and AFP, and summarised by The Next Web.

The legal basis is the EU's notification procedure for technical rules, under which member states must send draft laws to Brussels before adopting them. If the Commission finds within three months that a draft covers ground already in a pending EU proposal, it can impose a 12-month standstill. The trigger was Austria's draft, notified on 28 July, which would set an age limit of 14 for video-sharing platforms. According to Agence Europe, the Austrian freeze runs until 28 July 2027 and could be extended by six months. Belgian, Slovak and Portuguese drafts would also be caught, while French, Italian and Greek plans, notified earlier, would not.

The Commission's own proposal, the so-called Kids Act presented on 17 September, would bar under-13s from most social media, restrict access for 13- to 15-year-olds and ban addictive design features such as infinite scrolling, DR reported. It still has to be agreed by the European Parliament and member states.

Why Denmark is exposed

Denmark's government, backed by the opposition Liberals and Conservatives, agreed a national limit of 15. The bill was due to be tabled in early 2027, with age verification from 1 July 2027. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has called it a historic step.

Because the Danish law has not yet been adopted, it is unlikely to qualify for an exemption, said Christel Schaldemose, a Social Democrat MEP who led Parliament's negotiations on the Digital Services Act. "Unfortunately I think Denmark will be covered by this," she told DR (translated). She estimates that a Danish age limit could now arrive no earlier than 2029, since EU laws typically take about three years to take effect. Politico Europe has reported that the Kids Act may not apply before 2028.

Regnier said some countries far along in the process may keep their rules, but declined to comment on individual cases. Egelund did not say whether Copenhagen still expects its limit to start in July 2027.

Why it matters

The dispute pits Brussels' single-market argument, that platforms cannot comply with 27 different age limits, against capitals that see child safety online as urgent. Austria's state secretary Alexander Pröll called the freeze "unacceptable" in comments to Politico Europe. For platforms such as TikTok, Meta and Snap, a single EU standard may be easier to implement, but the delay also could leave much of Europe without binding age limits until 2028 or later.

Children's rights group Børns Vilkår told DR that "the children are the losers in this case" (translated).

Sources

Image: AI-generated illustration.

Recent

© European Tech On Heels - 2026
Made with
Web Wings