With the adoption of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in 2022, the European Commission embarked on a paradigm shift. It created a comprehensive framework that establishes rights for users of digital intermediary services—such as social media platforms or marketplaces for private listings—vis-à-vis the providers of these services. The protection of children and adolescents is a particular focus here, because although their daily lives and social interactions are heavily influenced by social media, these environments are anything but child-friendly. Content harmful to minors, to which even young children can be suddenly and unexpectedly exposed, is dangerous. There are also offenders who establish contact with minors online. And last but not least, the use of digital media in and of itself carries risks, such as disruptions to mental and motor development, overt addictions, or harm caused by health-threatening trends that spread via social media. Banning children and adolescents from using digital media is not a solution. This would exclude them from the digital public sphere—and complete inexperience would not provide sustainable protection either. Adolescents therefore have not only the right to protection of their privacy and health, but also to age-appropriate participation and the ability to engage with digital media in a self-determined manner.
Michael Terhörst, a fully qualified lawyer, heads the new, independent agency for the enforcement of children’s rights in digital services (KidD). In this Digitalgespräch, the expert on child and youth media protection describes the dangers adolescents face when using online platforms, who is responsible for protecting them from these dangers, and how these agencies go about doing so. He explains how the Digital Services Act (DSA) in particular can strengthen the rights of children and adolescents, why it is important not only to pursue criminal prosecution in individual cases but also to develop binding standards and integrated protection mechanisms, and outlines specific ways to make digital services safer and more youth-friendly. Together with hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, Terhörst discusses whether online services as a whole need to become more child-friendly, what common perspective EU member states have on the issue—and what concrete steps are now necessary to ensure that young people’s rights to protection, empowerment, and participation are safeguarded in the digital world as well.
Folge 62: Digitalgespräch with Michael Terhörst of the Stelle zur Durchsetzung von Kinderrechten in digitalen Diensten (KidD), 11. March 2025
Furhter Information:
Link to Webseite of KidD: https://www.kidd.bund.de/
Link to the Working Group 6 of European Board for Digital Services: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/working-group-6-european-board-digital-services-protection-minor
Link to the Gefährdungsatlas of Bundeszentrale für Kinder- und Jugendmedienschutz: https://www.bzkj.de/bzkj/service/publikationen/gefaehrdungsatlas-digitales-aufwachsen-vom-kind-aus-denken-zukunftssicher-handeln-aktualisierte-und-erweiterte-2-auflage–197812
all episodes of Digitalgespräch
The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.