Child and youth protection authority speaks out against social media ban

Now that the Australian parliament wants to ban social media platforms from targeting users under the age of 16 by law, there is also a heated debate in Germany. The director of the Federal Agency for the Protection of Children and Young Persons in the Media (BzKJ), better known to many users as the Federal Review Board for Publications Harmful to Young Persons (Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Schriften, later jugendgefährdende Medien), is clearly against a blanket ban.

"Children and young people have a right to digital participation and to explore digital environments safely," says Sebastian Gutknecht. He refers to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which, in addition to protecting children, also includes the right to use digital opportunities. For Gutknecht, this also includes the use of social media: "In Europe, providers have a legal obligation to make their platforms as safe as possible for young people with structural precautionary measures. However, I think a complete ban on social media for under-16s is too far-reaching."

Gutknecht, the head of an authority, is thus clearly positioning himself against the idea, which has historically had a reputation for banning too much rather than too little. Part of the Australian Social Media Minimum Age Bill is the obligation to suppress the creation of accounts by under-16s. To this end, providers must take appropriate measures. In fact, even in Australia it is not yet clear whether the ban will take effect at all – as there are still no further measures at regulation level to impose penalties for misconduct.

BzKJ wants safe use instead of a ban for children

The Digital Services Act and other legal norms such as the German Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media (JMStV) also oblige providers to treat minors differently to adult users. In particular, the law stipulates that content that is harmful to minors and harmful to their development must not be accessible to them.

There is currently an intense debate about the extent to which age recognition technology produces reliable results here, whether, conversely, a digital ID requirement could become necessary or whether services that do not guarantee sufficient protection for children and young people should be sanctioned. The BzKJ believes that the aim must be to offer children and adolescents a safe environment on the platforms and considers an "effective and platform-specific age check" to be sensible.

Survey of adults shows large majority in favor of ban

A recent survey by online opinion researchers YouGov caused a stir in Germany: according to the survey, 77% of Germans would support a social media ban like the one in Australia. However, only 16.9 percent of the German population is under the age of 18, around a third of Germans are over 60 – and, according to YouGov, only over-18s were surveyed.

(mho)