Federal Data Protection Commissioner Louisa Specht‑Riemenschneider has made it clear that she opposes a blanket ban on social‑media use for minors. Such a rule would apply a one‑size‑fits‑all approach, creating disproportionate barriers not only for large platforms but also for smaller networks and services tailored specifically for young users, a spokesperson from the agency told the newspaper “Handelsblatt”.
The question of age‑based restrictions is described as a “technical‑political decision” that touches multiple areas-child and youth protection, media, and digital policy. In data‑protection law, the focus is less on the exact age threshold and more on how it is enforced. Effective age‑verification systems must uphold principles of data minimisation and proportionality.
As a technical option, the agency points to zero‑knowledge solutions, exemplified by the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI‑Wallet) that the EU is developing. In that approach, users’ dates of birth or other identity details are not transmitted; instead, the system simply confirms that the user meets the required age threshold.
