Berlin plans interim law as EU readies social media curbs for children

German Education Minister Karin Prien has backed plans to restrict social media use among children and teenagers, calling for effective age checks alongside greater media literacy and better information for parents.

Technical age verification would be needed to enforce the proposed limits and would be handled through an app, Prien told public broadcaster ZDF on Thursday.

She said any system would have to comply with data protection rules and minimize the amount of data collected, with no age-verification data transmitted online.

However, the primary responsibility for protecting minors lay with social media platforms themselves, Prien said.

Under proposals outlined on Wednesday by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, children under the age of 13 would be barred from social media platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.

Those aged 13 to 15 would initially only be allowed to use parent-controlled and supervised "mini-accounts," with usage limited to one hour a day. Independent accounts would be permitted from the age of 15.

Prien said the restrictions should form part of a broader strategy and also called for a clear societal norm under which children under the age of three should have no screen time or access to digital services.

She also announced plans for a German interim solution while EU-wide rules are being developed.

"We will present key points for German transitional legislation in October," she said.

Among other measures, Germany's laws protecting minors are to be tightened and gaps in criminal law closed. The German government plans to work closely with the European Commission.

Under the EU proposals, platforms would also be required to introduce safer designs, including measures to prevent endless scrolling and videos from playing automatically. The plans also envisage screen-time limits and other measures aimed at protecting children and teenagers.

Experts largely back EU approach

Experts have broadly welcomed the plans, while warning that their effectiveness will depend on how they are implemented.

They said the European Commission's approach goes beyond simply banning young people from social media and recognizes the complexity of the issue.

"A complete ban for young people would wrongly portray the problem as a behavioural issue among young people and thus disregard the responsibility of platform companies," said Kathrin Karsay, an entertainment researcher at the University of Vienna.

Such rules could force major technology companies to change their services, according to Isabel Brandhorst, who heads a research group on problematic internet use at Germany's Tübingen University Hospital.

"If we can also succeed in getting a critical mass of young people to start using social media at a later age, then we will already have achieved a great deal," Brandhorst said.

She cautioned, however, that good intentions alone were not enough and that effective implementation would be crucial.

Without further details on how compliance would be monitored, it was difficult to assess the likely impact of the measures, she said.

Some children and teenagers are also likely to continue using social media despite the restrictions. Karsay said this raised the question of how young people who circumvent the measures would be protected.

Legal expert Stephan Dreyer of Germany's Leibniz Institute for Media Research stressed that the proposals affect the fundamental rights of children and teenagers, as well as those of parents and platform providers.

Potential age-verification requirements could also affect all internet users, he said.

Dreyer also warned of potential competitive disadvantages for new social media platforms, which, unlike established operators with existing user bases, would have to verify all account holders from the outset.