Philipp Türmer, the chair of The Left (Juso), rejected proposals to ban social‑media platforms for users under 14. In an interview with RTL and ntv, he said he didn’t know of any workable concept for such a ban, adding that current measures should instead target the “real big criminals” rather than children. By “real big criminals” he was referring to the technology billionaires in the United States.
Türmer argued that platforms themselves, led by figures such as Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, need to be held accountable. He urged that the EU should impose severe penalties-or even shut down networks-if operators fail to follow the rules. He warned that this could bring Meta’s stock price to a sudden crash, and he stated that he could no longer accept that American plutocrats were disregarding law and order.
He also criticized Australia’s existing ban, calling it a poor model. In Australia, he noted, the focus had mainly been on limiting VPN download rates. Türmer warned that if a similar ban were enacted here, users like “Lisa from Ulm” could simply switch to “Lisa from Utah” circumventing the restrictions.
While he expressed support for efforts to better protect children and teenagers online, he cautioned that current developments in this area are “a disaster” in parts.