This article is part of the campaign DSA for YOUth - Protecting minors by design, focusing on the DSA guidelines for the protection of minors under the DSA, including the age verification (AV) and age-appropriate (AA) measures, and translating these rules into clear, practical, and jargon-free resources. In this insight series, we explore how different Safer Internet Centres are working at the national level to raise awareness about the DSA and how it impacts the everyday lives of young people, their parents or caregivers, and teachers and educators.
As an European Economic Area country, Norway is preparing for the implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in Norwegian law, which is now open for consultation. The Norwegian government has also proposed setting the minimum age for social media use to 15 years by law, applying the DSA and the eID regulation (eIDAS 2) as legal instruments.
The Norwegian Media Authority (NMA) reports that 7 out of 10 children aged 9-12 have a social media account, despite the age limit of 13 years. Current age limits are not enforced by the platforms, and the NMA supports the use of age verification to access major social media platforms, where the risk of exposure to harmful content and design, such as recommender systems, is high, and the network effects are strong.
Resources to help keep young people safe
In 2025, the Norwegian SIC aims to stand with young people in addressing harmful online content. Research from the “Handlingsplanen for en trygg digital oppvekst” (“Action Plan for a Safe Digital Upbringing” in English), independent studies, and surveys by NMA show that young people rarely report unpleasant or illegal experiences online. The action plan also highlights that many young people have limited knowledge about their own and their peers’ rights in digital spaces.
To highlight these challenges, Safer Internet Day 2025 targeted young people aged 13–15, and their parents/caregivers. The focus was on debunking myths surrounding reporting to platforms and the police, and to answer key questions such as:
- What happens when you report something?
- How is the case handled moving forward?
- Will the person who shared the content I report or file a complaint about be notified?
The Norwegian SIC produced:
- an informative article for parents and caregivers at foreldrehverdag.no (“Everyday parenting”).
- an informative article for young people on ung.no.
- a social media campaign where young people discuss real online incidents. The videos feature a panel of well-known Norwegian influencers addressing pressing topics like nude photos and violent videos, based on questions submitted to ung.no.
- practical video guides on how to report content on various platforms.
The main goals of Safer Internet Day 2025 were to increase young people’s awareness of their digital rights, and to help parents and caregivers understand the challenges their children face online. Find more information on SID 2025 activities in Norway here.
Impact
The work around raising awareness of the DSA, and specifically of reporting tools and age verification proved quite successful with a very large reach:
- the youth article was viewed by 23,711 users.
- the parents' articles was viewed by 13,652 users, and had 4,200 hits on Facebook.
- the social media campaign:
- on Snapchat, it reached 277,957 unique users, and videos gathered 8,370,325 views.
- on Meta, 173,821 parents and caregivers were reached, and videos gathered 534,693 views.
For Safer Internet Day 2026, the Norwegian SIC is conducting media monitoring to further document what 13-14-year-olds are exposed to, and how platform design affects them.
Protecting users from addictive design is a topic NMA will look into, to see how to gather insights to later be used in campaigns and professional articles for both young people, parents, and adults who work with children and youth. This work is in its initial phase and is to be delivered by March 2026. This work will be seen in connection with NMA's ongoing efforts regarding age limits, age verification, and advice on screen time in Norway.
Find more information about the work of the Norwegian Safer Internet Centre, including their awareness raising, helpline, hotline, and youth participation services – or find similar information for Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.
Interested in more?
If you are interested in more, explore the DSA for YOUth toolkit to learn how the Digital Services Act (DSA) protects minors by design. There, you will find a family-friendly booklet explaining the DSA guidelines on what online platforms should do to keep kids and teens safe online, easy-to-read explainers, a quiz, and other resources.
This article is part of the campaign DSA for YOUth - Protecting minors by design, focusing on the DSA guidelines for the protection of minors under the DSA, including the age verification (AV) and age-appropriate (AA) measures, and translating these rules into clear, practical, and jargon-free resources. In this insight series, we explore how different Safer Internet Centres are working at the national level to raise awareness about the DSA and how it impacts the everyday lives of young people, their parents or caregivers, and teachers and educators.
As an European Economic Area country, Norway is preparing for the implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in Norwegian law, which is now open for consultation. The Norwegian government has also proposed setting the minimum age for social media use to 15 years by law, applying the DSA and the eID regulation (eIDAS 2) as legal instruments.
The Norwegian Media Authority (NMA) reports that 7 out of 10 children aged 9-12 have a social media account, despite the age limit of 13 years. Current age limits are not enforced by the platforms, and the NMA supports the use of age verification to access major social media platforms, where the risk of exposure to harmful content and design, such as recommender systems, is high, and the network effects are strong.
Resources to help keep young people safe
In 2025, the Norwegian SIC aims to stand with young people in addressing harmful online content. Research from the “Handlingsplanen for en trygg digital oppvekst” (“Action Plan for a Safe Digital Upbringing” in English), independent studies, and surveys by NMA show that young people rarely report unpleasant or illegal experiences online. The action plan also highlights that many young people have limited knowledge about their own and their peers’ rights in digital spaces.
To highlight these challenges, Safer Internet Day 2025 targeted young people aged 13–15, and their parents/caregivers. The focus was on debunking myths surrounding reporting to platforms and the police, and to answer key questions such as:
- What happens when you report something?
- How is the case handled moving forward?
- Will the person who shared the content I report or file a complaint about be notified?
The Norwegian SIC produced:
- an informative article for parents and caregivers at foreldrehverdag.no (“Everyday parenting”).
- an informative article for young people on ung.no.
- a social media campaign where young people discuss real online incidents. The videos feature a panel of well-known Norwegian influencers addressing pressing topics like nude photos and violent videos, based on questions submitted to ung.no.
- practical video guides on how to report content on various platforms.
The main goals of Safer Internet Day 2025 were to increase young people’s awareness of their digital rights, and to help parents and caregivers understand the challenges their children face online. Find more information on SID 2025 activities in Norway here.
Impact
The work around raising awareness of the DSA, and specifically of reporting tools and age verification proved quite successful with a very large reach:
- the youth article was viewed by 23,711 users.
- the parents' articles was viewed by 13,652 users, and had 4,200 hits on Facebook.
- the social media campaign:
- on Snapchat, it reached 277,957 unique users, and videos gathered 8,370,325 views.
- on Meta, 173,821 parents and caregivers were reached, and videos gathered 534,693 views.
For Safer Internet Day 2026, the Norwegian SIC is conducting media monitoring to further document what 13-14-year-olds are exposed to, and how platform design affects them.
Protecting users from addictive design is a topic NMA will look into, to see how to gather insights to later be used in campaigns and professional articles for both young people, parents, and adults who work with children and youth. This work is in its initial phase and is to be delivered by March 2026. This work will be seen in connection with NMA's ongoing efforts regarding age limits, age verification, and advice on screen time in Norway.
Find more information about the work of the Norwegian Safer Internet Centre, including their awareness raising, helpline, hotline, and youth participation services – or find similar information for Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.
Interested in more?
If you are interested in more, explore the DSA for YOUth toolkit to learn how the Digital Services Act (DSA) protects minors by design. There, you will find a family-friendly booklet explaining the DSA guidelines on what online platforms should do to keep kids and teens safe online, easy-to-read explainers, a quiz, and other resources.
- DSAforYOUth DSA (Digital Services Act)
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