This week, Denmark will send draft legislation introducing a minimum age of 15 for the use of social media platforms for public consultation, while Finland’s governing coalition did not reach agreement on a similar ban. Iceland has secured its media subsidy scheme for another five years. Sweden is considering additional funding for its public service broadcasters to cover rising terrestrial transmission costs, while a new initiative in Greenland aims to strengthen Greenlandic-language journalism.
This and much more in this issue of Nordic Media Policy.
Danish draft legislation on minimum age for social media platforms sent out for consultation
This week, the Danish government will send draft legislation proposing a new minimum age of 15 for the use of social media platforms for public consultation, BT/Ritzau reports. The previous government had already reached an agreement in November last year to introduce a minimum age of 15. That proposal, however, would have allowed parents to give children as young as 13 permission to use social media platforms. This exemption has been removed from the new draft legislation according to Politiken. The proposal is expected to be introduced as a bill in the Danish Parliament in early 2027, with a proposed entry into force on 1 July.
Finns Party blocks social media ban for under-15s
In Finland, the Finns Party has blocked a proposed ban on social media use for children under the age of 15, according to Svenska Yle. All other parties in the governing coalition supported the proposal, but the parties did not reach agreement on how such a ban should be implemented. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, together with partners including the Finnish National Agency for Education, is due to publish new digital-use recommendations for 13–18-year-olds at the beginning of next year.
Photo: Monika P
Iceland extends media support scheme for five years
Initiative to strengthen Greenlandic-language journalism
Greenland’s public service broadcaster KNR and the Danish School of Media and Journalism (DMJX) launched a six-month talent development programme in early September for five–six KNR employees. The aim is to increase the availability of journalism in Greenlandic, according to Sermitsiaq. The initiative is privately funded and forms part of a broader collaboration involving Danish and Greenlandic journalism organisations and Greenlandic media outlets. Funding has also been allocated for additional reporting trips by KNR and Sermitsiaq to smaller towns beyond Greenland’s largest population centres.
Finland ends automatic rescue service alerts to the media
In September, Finnish news outlets stopped receiving automatic alerts from the rescue services about incidents such as fires, road accidents, and near-drownings, Suomen Lehdistö reports. At the same time, lists of rescue service call-outs and the related RSS feed were removed from the rescue services’ website. The Ministry of the Interior has decided to phase out the Peto-media service, which had long provided news organisations with information such as the location and street address of incidents, the time of the alarm, and the number of emergency service units dispatched. According to STT/Suomenmaa, reasons given for discontinuing the service included changes in the security environment and a desire to give the rescue authority leading an operation greater control over what information is released about an accident or other incident, and when. Suomen Lehdistö also reported that the existing system had encountered difficulties in complying with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
About the newsletter The newsletter Nordic Media Policy reports on media policy developments in the Nordic countries and at the Nordic level. It presents new legislative proposals, parliamentary debates, and new media policy decisions and initiatives. The newsletter also draws attention to new reports and studies in the media field from the Nordic countries.
Nordic Media Policy is published with support from the Nordic Council of Ministers.
Editor Tobias Lindberg, researcher at Nordicom tobias.lindberg@nordicom.gu.se
Publisher Nordicom University of Gothenburg PO Box 713 SE-405 30 Gothenburg Sweden www.nordicom.gu.se
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