Federal Family Minister Karin Prien (CDU) has announced rapid legislative measures to better protect children and young people in the digital world. She would “launch an immediate programme with measures that can be implemented quickly,” Prien said on Friday while receiving the final report of an expert commission on the issue. The commission’s 56 recommendations were “a real basis for changing things in our country,” she said.
Prien reaffirmed her call for the introduction of an age limit for young people using social media platforms. Such an age limit would have to be combined with requirements for providers to ensure better protection for children and young people. There was already a “discussion process” within the federal government on the issue, she said, adding that this process would now have to be “intensified once again within the coalition and in the German Bundestag as a whole.”
The commission proposed several models for regulating social media use in its recommendations, including a minimum age of 13 or restrictions on individual social media platforms. The decision on which measures will ultimately be incorporated into legislation lies with the federal government.
Prien acknowledged that lawmakers were “late in reacting” to the issue of protecting children and young people in the digital world. The government had “accepted” that “a technology was developing rapidly” and had “started looking at it systematically relatively late,” she said. She expected the government “to take action this year, including when it comes to legislation,” the minister said.
The expert commission on “Child and Youth Protection in the Digital World” was established by Federal Family Minister Prien in September 2025 on the basis of the coalition agreement. It had already presented its recommendations for action in June. With the handover of the final report on Friday, the commission’s work has now been completed.
In its assessment, the commission analysed key aspects of child and youth protection in the digital world, ranging from digital environments and potential risks to the opportunities new technologies offer for participation, existing structures for media education and prevention, and the legal framework and its practical enforcement.
The commission examined four key areas: safety in the digital space, the health and psychological effects of media use, challenges posed by artificial intelligence, and strengthening media literacy among children, young people, parents and professionals.
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