Norway plans temporary ban on AI glasses in public places

Norway's government plans to introduce a temporary ban on wearing glasses with built-in artificial intelligence in a number of public places, according to a government press release reported by the public broadcaster NRK and relayed by Russian outlets. Vedomosti reported that the government intends to present the initiative to parliament shortly, while vc.ru noted that no draft bill exists yet and that it is to be prepared “in the near future”. The ban would not be a complete prohibition of the devices, Meduza reported, citing the Financial Times. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 5 ]

Interfax, citing NRK, said the ban would cover parks, beaches, museums, shopping centres and amusement parks, as well as children's institutions and events, health facilities and training centres with changing rooms and showers. Kommersant reported that all public places would be covered, that priority would be given to protecting children, and that the ban would extend to kindergartens, schools and universities. [ 1 , 2 , 4 ]

Minister of digitalisation and government administration Torgeir Mikalsen said he was worried that a powerful new technology creates risks for people who do not realise they are being photographed, filmed or recorded, according to Interfax. Kommersant quoted him saying: “We do not want to live in a society where people are worried about hidden audio recording, photographing and video recording in places and situations where they are used to being unobserved. Such a society may be perceived as unsafe.” Meduza reported that the minister said the temporary ban was needed to assess the situation carefully and draw up permanent rules, and that the government will appoint an expert group on a permanent national regulation. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]

Kommersant reported that the restrictions would not be complete: private use would remain allowed and filming might be permitted at tourist locations, with an expert commission to study the question. Meduza said the government emphasised that no full ban on AI glasses was intended. [ 3 , 4 ]

Kommersant said AI glasses can look like ordinary glasses but contain built-in cameras and microphones, that several large technology companies make them, that Meta leads in sales, and that EssilorLuxottica, which produces such glasses with Meta, reported selling more than 7 million devices in 2025. It said the devices have already been banned in some US states over privacy risks and in courts in England and Wales, and that some cafes have restricted entry to wearers. Meduza, citing the FT, said bans at other levels already exist in Norway, for example at schools in Oslo and at facilities of the oil and gas company Equinor, and that Meta's AI glasses are barred from courts in England and Wales. [ 3 , 4 ]

On the significance of the move, the documents differ. Meduza, citing the FT, described Norway as the first major state in the world to plan nationwide restrictions on AI glasses, while Kommersant described it as the first country among EU members to take such restrictive measures. vc.ru restricted itself to noting that no bill exists yet. [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]

Meduza also recalled that Russia's Federal Security Service said in 2021, when Meta and Ray-Ban presented their first smart glasses, that they could be classed as devices for covertly obtaining information and could fall under article 138.1 of the criminal code on the illegal circulation of special technical means. It said no direct ban on AI glasses was ever written into Russian law, but that Meta was declared an “extremist organisation” in Russia in March 2022; Kommersant similarly noted that Meta is recognised as extremist and banned in Russia. [ 3 , 4 ]