BERLIN: Germany’s interior minister has expressed scepticism about a possible ban on social media use for children aimed at protecting them from harmful content and excessive screen time, arguing that such a measure would be difficult to enforce and unlikely to solve the problem on its own.
Australia introduced a ban on social media use for children under 16 last December, and several European governments have since announced plans for similar measures, including Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Austria.
"A simple ban would be difficult to enforce and, for that reason, not particularly effective,” Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt of the conservative Christian Social Union told the Funke media group.
Dobrindt said it was ultimately a fundamental decision for families and parents when a child should receive a smartphone.
"Responsibility cannot simply be shifted entirely in one direction or the other. But state action in this area cannot work without the involvement of families,” he said in the interview published on Monday.
Social media had become deeply embedded in the way society consumes information and was now part of everyday life, Dobrindt added, arguing that it was too simplistic to see a state-imposed ban as the sole solution.
German politicians are currently debating whether to introduce a ban on social media use for children under the age of 14.
Recommendations from an expert commission appointed by Youth Minister Karin Prien are expected soon.
According to a survey conducted in April by the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation, around two-thirds of people in Germany, or 66%, support introducing a social media ban for children under 14. A total of 2,500 individuals were surveyed. – dpa
