German Social Democrat paper adds to calls for social media curbs for children

BERLIN, Feb 16 (Reuters) – A group of German centre-left Social Democrats has joined their conservative coalition partners in calling for restrictions on social media access for children, proposing a formal ban for those under 14.

There has been a growing discussion in Germany of the potential negative effects of social media on children and pressure for the country to follow the example of Australia in curbing access to social media platforms including Facebook META.O, Snapchat SNAP.N, TikTok and YouTube GOOGL.O. 

“We can no longer avoid clear rules and restrictions,” Social Democrat party (SPD) leader Lars Klingbeil, who serves as Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s deputy, told the weekly Der Spiegel. “Protecting young people from the flood of hatred and violence on social media is a top priority.”

A discussion paper, signed by a group of SPD lawmakers and state politicians, calls for platforms to block access for children under 14 and to create special “youth versions” for those aged 14-16 – without algorithm-driven feeds, personalised content, or functions including endless scrolling or autoplay.

It also proposes making opt-outs for algorithmic recommendations systems as the default for all users over 16 years.

The paper follows a similar proposal from Merz’s conservatives, calling for a ban for under-16s, which is set to be discussed at their party conference this week.

Pressure from both parties in the coalition makes it increasingly likely that the federal government will push for restrictions. However, under Germany’s federal system, media regulation is a state‑level responsibility and the states must negotiate with each other to agree consistent nationwide rules.

Last year, Australia became the first country to ban the use of social media platforms by children under 16, prompting a growing number of countries in Europe to consider similar measures. Scrutiny has intensified further after Elon Musk’s flagship AI chatbot Grok was found to be generating nonconsensual sexualised images.

In Germany, the government last year appointed a special commission to look into protecting young people from potential harm online. The commission is expected to report later this year.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie, editing by Andrei Khalip)