Ramona Pop, the Chairwoman of the Federal Association of Consumer Centers (VZBV), has called for the political establishment of stricter governance and regulation for digital platforms. Speaking to the Rheinische Post, Pop asserted that digital platforms, AI chatbots, and messaging services should be inherently safe and designed responsibly from inception for all users.
According to the VZBV head, certain harmful design practices, such as infinite scrolling, should be automatically disabled for minors. The argument is that while adults should have the autonomy to activate specific functionalities, safety must be a guaranteed baseline standard, not an optional feature.
Pop argued that simple age restrictions are insufficient because they can easily be bypassed. She stressed that regulatory efforts must tackle the fundamental business model-the structure that thrives on closeness and trust to extract sensitive personal data and provide potentially dangerous advice.
Furthermore, she urged lawmakers to hold platforms more accountable for the content they disseminate, particularly user-generated material. She noted that while providers currently invoke a “platform privilege” to avoid liability for content originating from their users, this defense is weakening. Pop explained that this is because it is now universally understood that algorithms are the mechanisms that actively dictate what users are presented with. Therefore, she concluded that platforms must assume responsibility and liability for the content they ultimately display.
