New draft bill on social media age limits in Denmark
Background
The draft bill implements the political agreement of 7 November 2025 on digital child protection. Notably, the exception which has previously been discussed politically, under which children aged 13-14 could use the services with parental consent, has been abandoned. The age limit of 15 is therefore absolute.
Which digital services are in scope?
The digital services in scope are those that satisfy all three of the following criteria:
- The service qualifies as an online social networking service under Article 2(7) or a video-sharing platform service under Article 2(8) of the Digital Markets Act ("DMA").
- The service has been designated by the European Commission as a very large online platform (VLOP) under Article 33 of the DSA.
- The service is accessed by creating a user profile with a login.
Digital services exclusively or primarily intended for professional networking or professional development are expressly exempted.
Criteria no. 3 entails that the parts of a service that require login are in scope, while the logged-out parts of a service are not in scope.
The prohibition and total harmonization under the DSA
Section 2 of the bill makes it prohibited for children under the age of 15 to access the covered services. The prohibition is retroactive, meaning that it applies not only to new sign-ups but also to existing accounts held by children under the age of 15.
As the DSA is subject to total harmonization, meaning that Denmark cannot impose stricter regulation on the digital service providers, the bill has been constructed such that the prohibition is imposed on the children rather than the platforms.
However, the bill contains no enforcement or sanctions provisions, and neither children nor their parents will face fines or other penalties for non-compliance.
Derived age verification obligations under DSA Article 28
Although the bill does not directly impose obligations on digital service providers, it is intended to require that providers of covered services will need to implement effective age verification to comply with their obligations under DSA Article 28 and the European Commission's Guidelines (C/2025/5519).
Entry into force and timeline
The consultation deadline is 5 October 2026. Following the consultation process, the bill is expected to be presented to Parliament in early 2027.
It is set to enter into force on 1 July 2027.