Denmark may criminalise platforms for harmful coded content

Denmark’s Enhedslisten party wants social media platforms to face criminal liability for failing to remove harmful content involving suicide, self-harm and eating disorders, DR reports. Digitalisation Minister Christina Egelund has said she is open to considering a similar proposal.

Such content is often disguised through coded language and emojis. An image of a gravestone can indicate suicide, while animal emojis may be used to describe self-harm, feeling overweight or burning oneself, according to Ask Hesby Holm, director of the organisation Digitalt Ansvar.

Platforms are not currently legally required to remove content defined as harmful if it does not directly violate the law. Under the proposal, a Danish court could take action against companies such as Meta if they failed to remove depressive or otherwise harmful content from Instagram and Facebook.

“It is difficult to accuse someone of failing to follow their own guidelines with anything other than criticism. But if something becomes a criminal offence, you can sue those who break the law,” Enhedslisten media spokesperson Leila Stockmarr told Politiken, which first reported the proposal.

Egelund told the newspaper that similar ideas had been discussed at the Ministry of Digitalisation, including whether harmful content could be made illegal. Stockmarr said she welcomed the minister’s position, arguing that it suggested there was a majority in favour of the idea.

Harmful content can spread quickly

Digitalt Ansvar has for years called for Danish legislation that could hold technology companies accountable. Holm said he had lost count of how many times the organisation had reported harmful content that platforms did not remove.

In an earlier test on TikTok, the organisation created a profile posing as a 13 year old and liked depressive content whenever it appeared. Within 20 minutes, the feed was filled with such material, including content about self-harm, Holm said.

“It is not only about how much of it exists as a percentage. It is also about the fact that it acts like a magnet if you show even the slightest interest in it,” he said.

Parents may find it nearly impossible to understand the meaning of the trends, coded language and emojis appearing in their children’s feeds. Holm said the same codes could give platforms something specific to search for when identifying content for removal.

He said platforms could check whether a post was merely a joke or actually related to self-harm. Although users might adopt new emojis and expressions if existing ones were moderated, Holm argued that the reach of such language depended on how widely it was allowed to spread. In his assessment, the use of these codes would be significantly reduced if platforms stopped the content.

DR contacted Meta for a response to accusations that it is not removing enough harmful content, but the company had not replied.

Current rules require reporting

Platforms such as Instagram and TikTok are currently subject to their own guidelines, while individual countries can hold them responsible for content that directly violates the law. There is no law specifically making platforms responsible for removing content defined as harmful, including posts about self-harm, suicidal thoughts and eating disorders.

The European Union’s Digital Services Act, introduced in 2022, requires platforms to report how much content they remove and how many reports they receive.

However, a Digitalt Ansvar study published in June found that Meta had reduced moderation on Instagram by 74 per cent during 2025, based on the organisation’s counts.

If you are in crisis or having suicidal thoughts, tell someone. You can contact Livslinien anonymously by calling 70 201 201 or using the chat service at www.livslinien.dk.