Germany considers banning social media for most children

Transcript Audio The debate over social media use by teens is raging on. In the U.S., Meta and Google were just handed back-to-back losses in lawsuits against them. Germany is looking to ban social media, or at least make it harder to access, for young people, something Australia did last year. From Berlin, special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports on warnings from psychologists for the younger generation. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. John Yang: The debate over social media use by teens is raging on. In the United States, tech giants Meta and Google were just handed back-to-back losses in lawsuits against them in New Mexico and California. Overseas, Germany is looking to ban social media or at least make it harder to access for young people, something Australia did last year. From Berlin, special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports. Malcolm Brabant: These bright young students in a top Berlin high school reach for their smartphones as soon as there's a break in lessons. They head straight to social media sites that might soon be outlawed if Germany's governing party has its way. This 21st century version of prohibition is a timely subject for the English class of teacher Dhara Chaikh. Dhara Chaikh, Teacher: What did you learn? What are strong arguments in favor and strong arguments in opposition of a social media ban? What do you feel like? Mathilde, Student: I often see girls that look perfect. And, sometimes, I think, yes, I would love to look like them, or they look like they have features I don't have and stuff like that. So, yes, I kind of compare myself. Amelie, Student: Some people can then feel, like, depressed because they don't have, like, such a perfect life or selfies like that. Mia, Student: Even I know how bad and how they affect my mental health and how much time they take away from things that are more important in my life. Malcolm Brabant: Experts say these experiences are just the tip of a more sinister psychological iceberg. Ralph Hertwig, Max Planck Institute for Human Development: People younger than 13 years old, they should not be on social media. Their brain, their ability, their resilience, their ability to deal with the content and the functionality is just not in place yet, and therefore they shouldn't be on social media. Malcolm Brabant: Professor Ralph Hertwig is a psychologist who specializes in human judgment and decision-making. He's a leading advocate for a ban. Ralph Hertwig: Think about this endless scrolling, for instance, but also the content, if you think about pornography, if you think about violence, cruelty, hate, et cetera. Then this comes at a point where there are critical developmental windows for the developing brain. And we have to think about and there is increasing evidence that there is a negative association between social media use on the one hand and the psychological healthiness of young people. Malcolm Brabant: Those sentiments align with the stance of Germany's governing party, the Christian Democrats. Chancellor Friedrich Merz led the calls for a social media ban for the under-14s, who, on average, spend 5.5 hours online each day. Friedrich Merz, German Chancellor (through interpreter): Do we want to allow our society to be disintegrated internally, and in this way our youth, our children are endangered? We have to deal with this question because it is the enemies of our freedom, the enemies of our democracy, the enemies of an open and free liberal society who are undertaking this. (Applause) Malcolm Brabant: But education professor Nina Kolleck doubts that a ban will solve the problem. Nina Kolleck, Potsdam University: If we ban it, we even make it more attractive and probably they will -- when they are 16, they will even show more addictive behavior when they use it. If we want to solve the problem, we have to ban the algorithms which are so harmful, and we have to introduce digital literacy. Malcolm Brabant: So just how effective are social media bans? Australia was the first country to enforce an age limit, and its latest data suggests that social media companies have been forced to close down 4.7 million accounts belonging to teenagers. Nevertheless, it is estimated that 20 percent of Australian adolescents still manage to access forbidden sites like TikTok and Snapchat. Big tech companies oppose governmental bans on social media for teenagers. They argue that such restrictions are difficult to implement and risk pushing adolescents towards less regulated, more dangerous content. Benno Flugel, Anti-Social Media Activist: Smartphones, they distract us. Smartphones have apps that are very addictive, and so smartphones poison our individual life. And, furthermore, smartphones poison our society. Malcolm Brabant: Anti-social media activist Benno Flugel claims that his campaign against the big tech behemoths is gaining traction in Germany. Benno Flugel: I'm aware that I'm in a small minority, but I think smartphones will have a similar career like smoking. As years went by, there was more evidence that smoking is actually very harmful. I think we see the same development with social media right now. You see the rise in depression, you see the rise in anxiety. Reading skills of schoolchildren are deteriorating. And I think the more evidence we get over the years, the more people will see that our position is actually right. Anna, Student: OK, so my pros are social media is harming children and teenagers. Teens using social media three hours per daily have higher risk of anxiety and depressions. Student: Double risk of anxiety. Malcolm Brabant: Dhara Chaikh has only been teaching for two years, but in that time she's noticed some alarming trends. Dhara Chaikh: I can see that the children compare themselves to each other. And I do feel like depression is on the up. There's a lot of children that deal with that, but also comparing themselves to unrealistic body types. There's a lot of body dysmorphia going around. I have a lot of students who are bulimic, actually. Malcolm Brabant: And where do the students stand? Leading the opposition is Elias, who admits to watching TikTok for two to three hours a day. Elias, Student (through interpreter): I'm against getting such a media ban because it's something to do in your free time and because you also get information that you don't get at school. And, no, I don't think it's harmful to me because I'm still getting good grades. And that's why I wouldn't be able to say anything about it. Charlie, Student: If something is, like, banned or you can't use it, like, it's forbidden, then it's more interesting. I don't know how to say it, but it's like something is banned and then I want it even more. Mia: I think that it would be good to ban it, to ban social media as well, but I feel like it is definitely up to the parents and not the government to enforce the ban. Malcolm Brabant: Germany's coalition government has yet to draft the relevant legislation. In the meantime, education experts say it's imperative that schools teach students how to become more resilient to social media pressure. For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Malcolm Brabant in Berlin.