Children and young people need special protection – and that applies in the digital world, too. An independent commission of experts has therefore drawn up recommendations for more effective media protection for children and young people and it presented its final report, complete with 56 recommendations, in September 2026. On this basis, the Federal Government has now adopted the key elements of a forward-looking, comprehensive strategy to provide digital protections for children and young people. 

Safe and in control in the digital world

The focus is on the question of what children, teenagers, parents and carers need, to ensure that young people can navigate the digital world safely and independently. There is no intention of banishing digital technology from young people’s lives or imposing bans for their own sake. 

Rather, the aim is to protect children and young people, to strengthen their skills and to enable them to participate actively in the digital world. Achieving these objectives is a task for society as a whole, meaning the Federal Government, the Federal States and the European Union must all work closely together.

Age restrictions on social media

The key points that have now been agreed upon provide for various measures. The Federal Government will therefore support the proposal for a so-called “EU KIDS Act”, whereby the European Commission aims, among other things, to introduce an age limit of 13 for social media platforms and to ban designs in digital applications that drive compulsive engagement.

Until a minimum age for using social media is set at European level, the Federal Government intends to introduce a provisional national regulation. Under the proposal, children under the age of 13 would, in principle, be prohibited from using social media, with exceptions provided for programmes that are shown to be suitable for children. For teenagers aged 13 to 18, there will be graduated restrictions on use. From 2027, the Federal Government intends to provide a reliable means of age verification for digital services through the German implementation of the European Digital Identity Wallet (EUDI-Wallet), known as “d-you”. 

The measures are also aimed at improving children’s and young people’s media literacy and their ability to use AI applications. The Federal Government will therefore work to ensure, for example, that a so-called “AI seahorse” can be developed as a suitable programme for children of primary-school age and rolled out uniformly across Germany.

Support services for parents

Platform operators bear the primary responsibility for ensuring a safe environment. However, depending on the child’s age and level of maturity, it remains the parents’ responsibility to provide additional supervision of their children’s media use. The Federal Government is therefore taking various measures to strengthen media literacy not only among children and young people, but also for parents and professionals.

A nationwide campaign aimed at parents of pre-school children seeks to raise their awareness of the dangers posed by digital media and to highlight the support services available. The campaign is set to launch later this year. 

Excessive media use can also lead to obesity, sleep disorders or developmental disorders. Hence, a decision has already been taken to introduce a new early-detection screening programme for children aged between nine and ten and to document the J1 youth health check-up. One key focus of both studies will be identifying the risks associated with digital media consumption and providing appropriate advice.

Child-friendly reporting and helpline

In addition, the Federal Government intends to lobby the Federal States to introduce a child-friendly reporting and notification centre (the “Kinder-Online-Wache”). There will also be appropriate measures implemented by the Federal Criminal Police Office – in consultation with the police forces of the Federal States – on issues including cyber-grooming.

The Federal Government will continue its dialogue with the Federal States, at European level and with other stakeholders and will press ahead with the implementation of further recommendations for action to protect children and young people in the digital world.