Experts warn Sweden against social media ban

Sweden's push to implement age restrictions for children on social media is facing strong criticism from legal and security experts. These professionals argue that such measures, similar to those recently introduced in Australia and France, may not achieve their intended goals and could introduce new risks.

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A ban does not prevent a child from being bullied or contacted by a pedophile or by someone else trying to groom the child.

Kristina Lillieneke, a lawyer with the Association for Digital Freedoms (DFRI), stated that a ban would not prevent children from being bullied or contacted by predators. Her colleague, Elias Rudberg, added that implementing age verification without identity checks would be problematic. He highlighted the risk of sensitive personal data becoming a target for cyberattacks, recalling a 2025 incident where hackers stole 70,000 identity documents from a Discord subcontractor handling age verification.

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The moment we send the picture of our ID, it has left our control. And we have no way to ensure whether the claims about how the information is handled are correct.

Security specialist Karl Emil Nikka emphasized the loss of control over personal information once an ID is submitted for verification. He pointed out that both iOS and Android already offer built-in parental controls, making additional restrictions seem redundant. Nikka warned that such bans could push young users towards platforms with even less moderation, citing 4chan as an example of a site that disregards age verification.

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Introducing these restrictions where users are verified is really going too far.

Despite these concerns, Social Affairs Minister Jacob Forssmed is eager to enact the law change, aiming for implementation by January 1, 2028, or sooner if possible. He believes faster action will yield positive effects for children and young people. The government's plan involves utilizing the new European digital wallet for identity verification.

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My ambition is to have this in place sooner if possible. The longer we delay, the later we will get the positive effects that can come from this for children and young people.