Germany pushes EU to set 13-year social media age limit
Germany's education minister is calling for an EU-mandated minimum age of 13 for social media use, a regulatory shift that would force tech platforms to implement strict age verification across the bloc.
An independent expert commission in Germany has issued 56 recommendations to curb youth screen addiction, including a ban on smartphones in schools until seventh grade and new measures to hold online platforms accountable for their content.
Education Minister Prien has backed the commission's findings, advocating for a legal minimum age of 13 for independent social media use. For the broader tech industry, the significant development is her call for this threshold to be set at the European Union level rather than solely within Germany, paired with mandatory age verification and phased safeguards for users up to age 18.
This regulatory push is driven by alarming data on youth consumption. OECD figures show 15-year-olds in Germany spend about 48 hours per week in front of screens, the fifth-highest rate among 36 nations. A study by health insurance provider DAK found that 1.5 million young people in Germany use social media problematically, with 350,000 considered addicted.
Commission co-chair Nadine Schön warned that digital media is radicalizing democratic discourse and harming child development. "We want the platforms to be more accountable, so that they enable participation but also offer more protection than they have so far, for example with age verification," she said.
The demand for greater platform responsibility also intersects with consumer finance. Andreas Pauly, a social education worker managing a media addiction prevention organization, highlighted a rise in uncontrolled spending linked to digital platforms. "Some 17-year-olds are already €10,000 in debt. This is also because payment platforms such as PayPal have no consideration for this," he said.
The German debate follows Australia's decision in December to ban social media for children under 16. Eighteen-year-old Leni, who previously spent up to 10 hours a day on apps like TikTok and YouTube, supports a ban. "It would protect children and young people a little bit more. I have noticed that there are things on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube which not regulated at all," she said.
However, critics of the regulatory pace argue that legislation frequently lags behind technological shifts. Florian Buschmann, a 25-year-old who leads an initiative giving school presentations on digital dependency, cautioned against slow policy responses. "Many policy ideas come much too late. We are currently chasing social media, but we are already sliding into the next issue of artificial intelligence and deepfakes," he said.
