Germany proposes restricting access to social media for children under 13

German Minister for Family Affairs Karin Prien has called for legislation to set a minimum age of 13 for independent use of social media. 

She believes this step is the right approach to protecting minors on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. 

Prien noted that this issue would be best regulated at the pan-European level, but in the absence of timely progress, she is prepared to develop appropriate national regulations. The proposal calls for the introduction of a permission mechanism that would allow children under 13 to access only verified, safe, and low-risk resources. A mandatory condition for implementing the reform is the introduction of an effective system for verifying users’ ages, and for teenagers aged 13 to 18, the plan is to apply phased safety measures.

This was reported by the dpa news agency in an article on the German government’s initiatives to strengthen security in the digital space.