(de-news.net) – Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) has called for stricter regulatory measures governing minors’ access to social media platforms, framing the issue primarily as a matter of child welfare and developmental protection rather than technological restriction. He indicated that, while he remained generally cautious toward prohibitive regulation as a policy instrument, the accumulation of empirical evidence regarding the psychological, behavioral, and cognitive risks associated with excessive screen exposure justified targeted protective intervention. In his assessment, sustained and unregulated engagement with social media during formative developmental stages could disrupt essential processes such as learning, social interaction, and sustained attention. Merz emphasized that children required sufficient time and space for education, interpersonal development, and concentration, all of which could be undermined by intensive digital immersion. Although he acknowledged the growing importance of digital literacy as a core competency in contemporary society, he rejected the argument that unrestricted early access to social media was necessary for acquiring technological proficiency. Instead, he argued that public policy should seek to establish an appropriate balance between facilitating digital education and safeguarding developmental well-being, thereby ensuring that technological integration does not occur at the expense of broader social and cognitive development.
Within the CDU, party leadership and policymakers are actively debating the introduction of formal minimum age thresholds for access to major platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. These discussions reflect broader concerns about the societal and developmental implications of widespread digital platform use among minors. Parallel proposals have emerged from the SPD, which has advocated a tiered regulatory model that would impose a complete prohibition on access for children under the age of 14 while allowing graduated access at older ages. Several CDU state leaders, including Daniel Günther and Hendrik Wüst, have instead endorsed a higher minimum access threshold of 16 years, reflecting a more precautionary regulatory approach. Merz indicated that he viewed these proposals favorably, particularly insofar as they aligned with broader institutional efforts to strengthen child protection frameworks and mitigate potential long-term psychological, educational, and social consequences associated with prolonged exposure to digital environments.
German regulators call for a comprehensive strategy beyond social media prohibitions
At the same time, other policymakers have underscored the limitations of relying exclusively on prohibitive measures to address the complex risks associated with youth social media use. Hendrik Streeck, the federal government’s drug and addiction commissioner, emphasized the necessity of adopting a comprehensive, evidence-based regulatory strategy that integrates multiple complementary components. He argued that effective policy responses should combine enforceable age verification requirements, enhanced media literacy education, clearly defined platform accountability, and regulatory safeguards targeting algorithmic and interface features designed to maximize user engagement and potentially encourage compulsive use. Streeck warned that problematic or high-risk media consumption patterns had already emerged among a significant proportion of young users and maintained that these risks were not solely attributable to individual behavioral factors but were also shaped by structural characteristics inherent to platform design and digital engagement models. While expressing support for cross-party political initiatives aimed at strengthening youth protection, he emphasized that legislative intervention alone would be insufficient unless embedded within broader educational, institutional, and regulatory frameworks capable of addressing both behavioral and systemic drivers of digital dependency.
Educational stakeholders have similarly expressed support for stronger regulatory protections while highlighting practical and institutional challenges associated with implementation. Susanne Lin-Klitzing, chair of the German Philologists’ Association, argued that restricting access to social media during critical developmental periods could provide meaningful protective benefits by reducing exposure to potentially harmful digital influences. However, she emphasized that regulatory measures would need to be complemented by additional preventive and educational interventions, including increased parental engagement, structured media education, and the development of digital literacy competencies. She also cautioned that enforcement could prove difficult in practice, given the technical ease with which minors may circumvent age verification mechanisms, thereby underscoring the need for realistic and enforceable policy design.
The Federal Government has not yet adopted a definitive policy position and has indicated that it will defer formal decision-making until the completion of an expert review commissioned by the Ministry for Family Affairs, which reflects the broader complexity of the issue, involving balancing competing policy objectives, including child protection, digital inclusion, educational development, and regulatory feasibility. It also highlights the structural challenges facing policymakers as they attempt to reconcile the rapid expansion of digital technologies with the long-term developmental needs of younger populations by way of an evidence-based regulatory framework capable of addressing both the opportunities and risks associated with youth engagement in digital environments.
