Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer (independent) intends to increase the responsibility of digital platforms regarding youth protection online. He stated to the newspapers of the Funke Media Group that the “polluter pays” principle should be applied in this context. Weimer affirmed that it is correct and important to hold platforms accountable for ensuring age-appropriate content and to avoid placing the entire responsibility solely on children and parents. The State Minister for Culture and Media added that communication and freedom of information must also apply to minors. “We are not prohibiting our children from being on social media, but we are prohibiting platforms from freely entering our children’s rooms,” he said. Weimer also emphasized the significance of functioning age verification. According to him, this verification must be consistently enforced by the federal government, the states, and the European Commission. A protected participation is the right approach, and as the Minister for Media, he plans to support and complement this with a concept aimed at strengthening media literacy. The digital world, he concluded, needs to align itself with the rights, needs, and developmental opportunities of children and young people, not the other way around.
Politics
