Berlin, 10 August 2026 – German Federal Minister for Education Karin Prien has announced that she will present key points for national regulation to protect children and young people on social media by the end of the summer. The German legislation is explicitly intended to serve as a transitional solution until a common European framework is agreed.
eco – Association of the Internet Industry views these plans with concern. Several EU Member States are already discussing or introducing different national rules governing the use of social media by minors. An additional German special regime risks further exacerbating this fragmentation.
“A national approach does not become any better simply by calling it a transitional solution. Online services do not stop at national borders. Different age limits, verification requirements and rules for platforms create legal uncertainty and varying levels of protection, and thus help neither children and young people nor companies,” says Alexandra Koch-Skiba, Head of the eco Complaints Office. “What we need is a coherent European approach with uniform, effective and workable rules.”
With the Digital Services Act, the European Union already has a common legal framework for online platforms. The DSA also contains obligations to protect minors and follows a fully harmonised approach within its scope of application. Special national provisions in areas already covered by the DSA therefore raise not only practical issues but also questions under EU law.
“There is no question that platform providers must ensure that children and young people can use social media safely. This is precisely what the DSA already provides for through a European framework. Instead of establishing parallel national special regimes now, we should consistently apply this framework and, where there is a need for further regulation, develop it further jointly at European level,” says Koch-Skiba.
eco is also calling for a realistic timetable regarding age verification via the EUDI Wallet envisaged by Prien. Member States must make EUDI Wallets available by the end of 2026; eco currently expects them to be available from early 2027. It therefore remains to be seen whether the necessary infrastructure will already be widely available by that time and practically usable for the relevant age verification purposes.
