German youth think social media ban is 'fair' but parents should have the final say

Record ID: 2343200

  • Title: German youth think social media ban is 'fair' but parents should have the final say
  • Date: 21st February 2026
  • Summary: LVIV, UKRAINE (FEBRUARY 17, 2026) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MILITARY CEMETERY (SOUNDBITE) (Ukrainian) 27-YEAR-OLD LVIV RESIDENT, YULIIA OLIYAR, SAYING: "It's not four years, it has been going on for much longer. And when it started this time (February 24, 2022), I didn't expect it to be resolved once and for all. You have to know our enemy, you have to understand that they (Rus
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  • Keywords: CDU addiction ban digital living pupils social media students teenager
  • Location: BONN & STUTTGART, GERMANY 
  • City: BONN & STUTTGART, GERMANY 
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe
  • Reuters ID: LVA004738021022026RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: REUTERS HAS PARENTAL CONSENT TO INTERVIEW THE MINORS IN THIS EDIT
    FACES HAVE BEEN BLURRED WHERE PARENTAL CONSENT HAS NOT BEEN OBTAINED BY REUTERS
    Germany's ruling conservatives on Saturday (February 21) passed a motion to ban social media use for under 14s and introduce more stringent digital verification checks for teenagers, building momentum for such limits in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
    Speaking a day before the motion was passed, 13-year-old Moritz at the Cardinal Frings Gymnasium in the city of Bonn, said children her age "can already distinguish between what is fake news and what is not." "‘I think it's fair, but I think it should be up to the parents to decide whether to ban it, not the state," she adds.
    His classmate Emma, 13, almost exclusively uses Snapchat, but has a time limit on her phone. The ban would be "kind of unusual, because you get used to sending your snap in the morning before school, or what my friends do, like just scrolling through Instagram or TikTok for a bit," she said.
    The respective motion passed by the conservatives during their party summit in Stuttgart calls on the federal government to introduce a legal age limit of 14 for the use of social networks and to address the special need for protection in the digital sphere up to the age of 16.
    The conservatives, headed by Chancellor Friedrich Merz currently govern in coalition with the Social Democrats, who have also backed social media curbs for children. Pressure from both parties in the coalition makes it increasingly likely that the federal government will push for restrictions.
    (Production: Stephane Nitschke, Petra Wischgoll, Tilman Blasshofer, Andreas Buerger, Lena Toepler)
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