Social Media Age Verification: Possible Mechanism Explained - Social Media Age Regulation Proposal
In a bid to ensure the safety and well-being of children in the digital age, Julia Willie Hamburg, Lower Saxony's Minister of Culture, is working on guidelines to help schools navigate the complexities of social media and mobile phone usage.
The proposed guidelines will offer recommendations from pediatric, psychological, and pedagogical perspectives to support schools, aiming to promote media literacy and transfer child protection to the internet.
Hamburg has expressed concern about the risks posed to children on popular platforms like TikTok and Instagram and advocates for an age limit of 14 years for social media use. To enforce this limit, a parental consent form would be required for children to use social media.
While specific measures for Lower Saxony are not yet detailed, broader EU efforts provide valuable insight. For instance, the EU is set to introduce an age verification app starting in July 2025, which will require users of social media and streaming services to verify their age before accessing the platforms.
In Germany, there is a split among politicians regarding age limits for social media. While some support age restrictions due to the addictive nature of social media, others argue that bans could make platforms more appealing to young people. Reliable age verification systems are being advocated for to restrict access to content not suitable for children and young people.
Schools in Lower Saxony already have mobile phone concepts in place, with some having a phone zone on the playground or only allowing phones for the upper grades. Hamburg believes that promoting clear usage rules for schools to decide on themselves, rather than a ban, is more effective.
The guidelines will also provide recommendations for organizations that can help and offer worksheets and ideas for schools. However, the role of the new Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Karin Prien (CDU), in handling the plans for an age limit and special youth accounts remains unclear.
In response to concerns about sensitive data from the verification process, the state plans to store this data with the state. Hamburg has criticised the mobile phone ban in Hesse as confusing and not very helpful, instead preferring a more collaborative approach between schools, students, and parents.
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, Hamburg's guidelines aim to provide a clear and comprehensive approach for schools in Lower Saxony to handle social media and mobile phones, ensuring the safety and well-being of children while fostering a responsible and informed digital generation.
[1] It should be noted that the EU age verification app development is a collaborative effort among various European countries, but specific details for Lower Saxony have not been provided.
- Julia Willie Hamburg's guidelines for schools in EC countries, such as Lower Saxony, aim to promote media literacy and child protection online, addressing the complexities of social media and mobile phone usage.
- Hamburg advocates for an age limit of 14 years for social media use, with a parental consent form required for minors, mirroring broader EU efforts set for implementation in July 2025.
- The proposed guidelines offer recommendations from multiple perspectives, including pediatric, psychological, and pedagogical, to support schools in fostering a responsible and informed digital generation.
- Hamburg prefers a collaborative approach between schools, students, and parents for social media usage, rather than a complete ban, and believes that clear usage rules should be determined by schools themselves.
