BERLIN, Feb 6 - Leaders and influential figures within the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) are weighing a proposal to restrict social media access for those under 16, according to senior party sources. The discussion comes as several countries, prompted by worries about the impact of social media on children and adolescents, move toward tighter controls.
The CDU’s labour wing chief, Dennis Radtke, argued that online platforms are evolving faster than media literacy can keep up. "In many places, social media is a collection of hate and fake news. I, therefore, welcome the idea of following Australia’s example and introducing an age limit," he said.
According to reporting from the party press, a local CDU branch in Schleswig-Holstein submitted a motion that will be placed on the agenda for the CDU’s national conference scheduled for February 20-21. The motion calls for a "statutory minimum age of 16 for open platforms, accompanied by mandatory age verification," framing the measure as a protective boundary that recognizes the developmental needs of young people.
The motion did not list a comprehensive set of platforms to be covered, but the submission specifically named TikTok as well as Meta’s Instagram and Facebook. CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann is reported to have voiced support for the proposal, saying: "I am in favour of social media from the age of 16." He added, "Children have a right to childhood. We must protect children from hatred, violence, crime and manipulative disinformation in the digital world as well. On social networks, they are exposed to content that they cannot classify and process."
The CDU is the largest party within Germany’s governing coalition, which also includes the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). Internal debate within the CDU over how to shield minors from potential online harms has intensified in recent months, and the federal government established a special commission last year to study ways to protect young people from risks linked to online content. That commission is expected to publish its findings later this year.
Thorsten Schmiege, who leads the association of state-level media regulators, told party and policy audiences that regulators are taking problems such as cyberbullying, online sexual harassment and hate speech seriously. He said platforms must take responsibility and act. "If voluntary measures aren’t enough, a ban as a final step, comes into consideration," he warned.
Implications and context within the discussion
The proposal – if adopted by the CDU party conference and translated into policy by the coalition government – would require platforms to implement robust age checks and to limit open access to users younger than 16. The motion’s text emphasizes the protective rationale and references the need for mandatory verification to enforce any minimum-age requirement. The motion also singles out specific well-known platforms as examples, while not limiting the scope of the proposed rule to those services alone.
Debate within the CDU reflects broader concern within German political and regulatory circles about how to balance digital participation and child protection. The party-level motion and the parallel work of the federal commission are both moving toward answers, but the exact shape of any legal or regulatory measures remains to be determined pending discussions and reports later this year.
Summary
The CDU is set to debate a motion proposing a statutory minimum age of 16 for open social media platforms with mandatory age verification at its national conference on February 20-21. Party figures cited rapid changes in social media and exposure of children to hate, disinformation and harmful content as reasons for the measure. A government commission on protecting young people online is due to report later this year.