Protection for children: Do we have to tighten the limits for social media?

Protection for children: Do we have to tighten the limits for social media?

The digital world becomes a mining field for minors! Australia has decided to ban Tiktok and Instagram for everyone under the age of 16. This is done in the awareness that social media can also be dangerous for young people in Germany, such as Berlin Live . Again and again children and adolescents report violence, fake news, pedophilia and cyber bullying. Often parents have no shimmer of what their children experience in the online world.

In Germany, they must indicate that they are 12 or 13 years old. But how realistic are this information if they are not checked? Data protection hardly allows a control here, which calls on concerned voices. "The advantages that once existed have long been predominated by the disadvantages," warns an experienced journalist. In order to master these challenges, the Federal Center for Health Education recommends that 12 to 16 year olds should spend a maximum of two hours online a day, and not more than an hour at the age of 9-11. This calls for changes in dealing with social media.

urgent need for action in the case of age verification

An ever increasing problem are fake news and the forgery of age information on platforms such as Instagram. As early as registration, there are numerous young people who state false birth dates, as an adult user describes: "I believe that the age information should be controlled more strictly." And not without reason: A young man notes that it is very difficult to implement, since there are also many games with age restrictions on the platforms, which further complicates the use of social networks.

The protection of user data is just as important as the help with problems with accounts that is offered on Instagram help . The ability to ask or delete data protection inquiries is the focus of the discussions about the security of young users. In view of these challenges, it is clear that comprehensive measures are necessary to strengthen the digital security and the rights of minors to social media.