Stricter rules for the protection of children and young people on social media — with an age limit of 13 or restrictions on individual features depending on the risk — is recommended by the expert committee appointed by the Federal Ministry of Education in Germany.

The proposals, however, differ from the policy positions articulated by the coalition partners Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social Democrats (SPD), calling for even more restrictive measures.

The committee, which investigated the issue for nine months, proposes two alternative models: either introducing a minimum age of 13 for personal social media accounts or imposing restrictions on individual features, depending on the risk. Federal Education Minister Karin Prin (CDU) has already expressed her opposition, advocating for a 13-year-old age limit for all TikTok users, Facebook, and Instagram, while the SPD has called for the limit to be set at 16 years and the CDU at 14.

Ms. Prin described the committee’s recommendation for a legal age limit of 13 as “a step in the right direction” and emphasized: “For children under the age of 13, a legal requirement for parental consent should apply, allowing only offers that are proven to be child-friendly and low-risk. This means that parents can then decide for themselves whether their children have access to certain online services, such as educational platforms,” he said.

From the experts’ perspective, the committee’s co-chair, Professor Olaf Keller of the University of Kiel, emphasized that “it is not children who must adapt to the digital world, but the digital world that must adapt to children,” and argued that “excluding children and young people from this digital world is not a form of protection.”

In this spirit, the Minister of Education also called for measures to be taken at the European Union level, with a guarantee of “safety by design” from the providers themselves. “This means: an end to addictive algorithms and so-called dark patterns” for children. “These are digital tricks designed to steer users toward certain behaviors or keep them on platforms for longer periods of time,” she emphasized.

The committee’s recommendations also include a proposal for a nationwide ban on cell phones in school —during classes, recesses, and extracurricular activities—through the 7th grade (2nd year of junior high school). Starting in 8th grade, schools should develop binding usage policies, with student participation. The committee also recommends the mandatory introduction of the “AI Seahorse” program (Artificial Intelligence Seahorse) as early as elementary school, to better protect children from digital risks, as well as the establishment of a “national online police department” for children, where minors will be able to report crimes more easily. In addition, there should be more undercover investigators who pose as minors online to uncover sexual offenses or cyberattacks.

The committee points out that in Germany, one million children and young people use online platforms such as Instagram and TikTok in a problematic way, while 300,000 exhibit addictive behavior, and emphasizes that “structural risks should not be passed down to children or parents, but rather should be addressed by the platforms themselves and their providers.”