# Norway's parliament said no to a 13-year age limit on buying a smartphone

Should buying a smartphone come with an age limit, the way energy drinks and some films do? Four Christian Democrat (KrF) MPs thought so, and asked the government to set the limit at 13. In June, parliament said no. Here's what the proposal actually said, what the limit would have meant in practice and why the majority turned it down.

By Øyvind Østmo · Published 1 Aug 2026 · https://www.balansebarn.no/en/articles/13-year-smartphone-age-limit

## What the proposal said

In [the private members' motion](https://www.stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Publikasjoner/Representantforslag/2025-2026/dok8-202526-236s), Dokument 8:236 S (2025–2026), Ida Lindtveit Røse, Jorunn Gleditsch Lossius, Jørgen H. Kristiansen and Harry Valderhaug of the Christian Democrats (KrF) asked the government to introduce a 13-year age limit on buying a smartphone in Norway. Their argument: Norway should lead the way with a clear, enforceable age limit, just as it has for other goods.

## Where the proposal came from

The case rests on numbers anyone following this field will recognise. More than 90 per cent of Norwegian kids have [a phone of their own by age 9 or 10](/en/topics/first-phone), nearly all of them smartphones with the whole internet attached. Norwegian kids get smartphones earlier than kids in almost every other European country, according to the surveys the proposal leans on, from the Norwegian Media Authority and EU Kids Online. And eight in ten fifth-graders can get onto social media, despite the 13-year limit that already applies there.

One update to those numbers: in the Media Authority's latest survey, [87 per cent of 9 and 10-year-olds have their own phone, down from 93 per cent in 2024](/en/articles/kids-under-13-on-social-media). So things are already inching in the direction the proposers wanted, just from a very high starting point.

## What the limit would have meant in practice

Start with what the proposal was not. It was not a ban on under-13s owning or using a smartphone. The limit covered the purchase alone: an 11-year-old could no longer buy a smartphone themselves, in a shop or online. As I read the proposal, parents could still buy one and hand it over.

In practice, then, the limit would have done two things. It would have placed the decision squarely with parents, since a child could no longer spend birthday money or savings on their own. And it would have attached an official number to a question every family currently [works out alone](/en/answers/when-should-my-child-get-their-first-phone). The state would, in effect, have made 13 the reference point for a first smartphone, much as [the Norwegian Directorate of Health's screen time advice](/en/articles/screen-time-for-kids-and-teens) is the reference point for screen time today.

## How it ended in parliament

The family and culture committee ran a written hearing and received no fewer than 584 submissions, many of them from parents and school parent councils. Even so, in its recommendation of 21 May every party but KrF advised rejecting the proposal, and that's how it went: parliament debated the matter on 11 June, and in [the vote on 12 June 2026 the proposal fell](https://www.stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Saker/Sak/?p=200214).

The majority's reasoning is worth a parent's time, because it turns less on disagreement about the facts than you might expect. The parties share the concern. They just think a purchase ban aims at the wrong target: it's almost always the parents who buy the phone, not the child, and the problem lives not in the device but in the access it gives to algorithm-driven social media and app design built to keep kids there. Several parties pointed instead to what the government already has in motion: a dedicated age limit for social media, and raising the age at which children can consent to the processing of their personal data from 13 to 15. This particular limit is off the table, but the rules around what kids meet on screen are still moving. I'll be following those cases.

## Talking with your kids

“Some politicians in parliament thought you should have to be 13 to buy a smartphone, but most of them voted no, so there won't be a law like that for now. Whatever they decide in there, it's us here at home who decide when you get yours. And I promise you'll know why we land where we land.”

{/* TODO (Øyvind): your own view of the proposal, you wanted to take a position yourself.
Woven in as prose or a short «Closing thoughts» here, after the kids
section, so the landing stays last. The vurdering box is retired
(2026-08-12). */}

## Something you can do today

Ask your child: “The politicians have been debating whether you should have to be 13 to buy a smartphone. What do you think?” You'll get a good conversation about laws and rules, and an honest look at where your own child stands. No need to conclude anything.

**First phone:** [When should my child get their first phone?](https://www.balansebarn.no/en/answers/when-should-my-child-get-their-first-phone) — When the law doesn't decide, you do. The three questions I'd ask before the first phone, and the number I land on if you press me.

## Sources

- [Stortinget: Representantforslag om å innføre 13-årsgrense på kjøp av smarttelefon, Dokument 8:236 S (2025–2026)](https://www.stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Publikasjoner/Representantforslag/2025-2026/dok8-202526-236s) — Four KrF representatives propose that parliament ask the government to introduce a 13-year age limit for buying a smartphone in Norway. The proposal points among other things to over 90 per cent of kids having their own phone by age 9 or 10, and to Norwegian kids getting smartphones earlier than kids in almost every other European country.
- [Stortinget: Saksgang og vedtak, Innst. 330 S (2025–2026)](https://www.stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Saker/Sak/?p=200214) — The family and culture committee held a written hearing with 584 submissions and delivered its recommendation on 21 May 2026, where every party except KrF advised rejecting the proposal. Parliament debated the matter on 11 June and voted on 12 June 2026: the proposal was not adopted.
- [Stortinget: Høring i familie- og kulturkomiteen om representantforslaget](https://www.stortinget.no/no/Hva-skjer-pa-Stortinget/Horing/horing/?h=10005810)
- [VG: KrF vil innføre 13 års aldersgrense for kjøp av smarttelefon](https://www.vg.no/nyheter/i/XjQJgB/krf-vil-innfoere-13-aars-aldersgrense-for-kjoep-av-smarttelefon)
- [Medietilsynet (2026): «Fanget i feeden», barn og ungdommers bruksmønstre i sosiale medier](https://www.medietilsynet.no/fakta/rapporter/barn-og-medier/2026/fanget-i-feeden-1/)