Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has approved a party motion calling for a minimum age of 14 to use social networks, along with stricter age-verification measures for teenagers and potential fines for platforms that fail to comply.
On Saturday at a party conference in Stuttgart, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) passed a motion calling for a legal minimum age of 14 for the use of social networks, alongside tighter safeguards for young people up to age 16.
“We call on the federal government to introduce a legal age limit of 14 for the use of social networks and to address the special need for protection in the digital sphere up to the age of 16,” the motion said.
The CDU motion also calls for fines for online platforms that do not enforce the limits and for European Union-wide harmonisation of age standards.
Merz’s coalition partners, the Social Democrats, have also backed curbs on children’s social media use, increasing the likelihood of a push at the federal level. However, under Germany’s federal system, media regulation is largely a responsibility of the country’s 16 states, meaning any nationwide approach would require coordination among them.
The German debate comes as a growing number of countries—including Spain, Greece, France and Britain—are considering restrictions on children’s access to platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. It follows Australia’s move to require major platforms to prevent under-16s from holding accounts, with significant penalties for companies that fail to take reasonable steps to comply.
European efforts to tighten online rules have also drawn criticism from the United States. President Donald Trump has warned of possible tariffs and sanctions if EU countries introduce new tech taxes or online regulations that significantly affect U.S. firms.
At Cardinal Frings Gymnasium in Bonn, students offered mixed reactions. Thirteen-year-old Moritz, who said he only watches YouTube, supported limits for younger children but questioned the role of government: “I think it’s fair, but I think it should be up to the parents to decide whether to forbid it, not the state.” He added: “For children under 12 it should be forbidden, but from age 12 onwards I think children can already distinguish between what is fake news and what is not.”
His classmate Emma, 13, who mainly uses Snapchat and has a time limit on her phone, said a ban would feel “kind of unusual, because you get used to sending your snap in the morning before school, or what my friends do, like just scrolling through Instagram or TikTok for a bit.”
Ella, 12, who said she uses TikTok and Instagram, described the pull of endless feeds: “So I have TikTok and Instagram myself, but I understand that it’s all addictive, and the more you scroll, the more you want to see.”
Teacher Till Franke said the change would likely be a “shock” at first for many children because social media is part of their daily routine, but he expected students would adapt by finding other ways to communicate.
