according to reports citing german media on the 29th, the christian democratic union (cdu), a german ruling party, is discussing strengthening age restrictions for social media users and considering setting the minimum age at 16. jens spahn, the leader of the cdu parliamentary group, told the neue osnabrücker zeitung that this measure aims to protect the developing brains of teenagers, similar to the current prohibitions on alcohol and nicotine. he added that if the harm of social media becomes more evident, stricter measures will be necessary.
according to a public opinion survey conducted by the munich economic research institute in september, 85% of respondents aged 18 to 69 supported the age restriction to 16, and nearly half of respondents aged 14 to 17 supported laws similar to those in australia. last november, australia passed a law explicitly prohibiting the use of most platforms by those under 16. violators can be fined up to 234 million yuan. the law will take effect in december.
in germany, minors aged 13 to 16 currently need parental consent to use social media. meanwhile, french president emmanuel macron called on the european union (eu) in june to ban access for those under 15 and warned that if this ban is not implemented, separate legislation would be pursued. other european countries such as the netherlands, norway, and spain are also promoting similar regulations. globally, legal frameworks for protecting teenagers online are becoming increasingly stringent.
