Sweden bans mobile phones in schools; proposes property seizure law targeting Russian nationals
Sweden is implementing a ban on mobile phones in schools, joining other Nordic countries in restricting student screen time. The government is also proposing legislation to allow confiscation of properties owned by Russian citizens near military bases as a national security measure.
Why it matters
The school phone ban reflects a wider European reassessment of the heavy digitalization of classrooms over the past decade, with Nordic states now leading a retreat from screens. The Sweden-Estonia prison arrangement underscores Sweden's acute prison overcrowding amid years of surging gang-related crime, and outsourcing detention to a low-crime EU neighbor is an unusual measure whose political viability now appears uncertain in Tallinn.