Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) has proposed making the EU Digital Identity Wallet the mandatory verification tool for access to social media platforms, escalating a cross-party debate over how to enforce age limits on digital services for minors.
The proposal came in an impulse paper circulated by the SPD ahead of a CDU federal party conference in Stuttgart. The paper calls for a three-tiered regime: an outright ban on social media use for children under 14, youth-only platform versions with restricted algorithmic features for those aged 14 to 15, and mandatory EUDI Wallet verification for all users aged 16 and older. SPD leader and Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil framed the shift as a response to growing concern among young people about unregulated online spaces.
Under the SPD’s scheme, users between 14 and 16 could only access social networks through a parent or guardian’s EUDI Wallet app, effectively tying account access to the identity credentials of an adult. The wallet, defined under the EU Digital Identity Regulation, stores documents such as national identity cards and driving licences on a smartphone and can be used to attest attributes including age without revealing underlying personal data.
The CDU’s Stuttgart resolution, passed separately, endorses a minimum social media access age of 14 and calls on the federal government to enforce that limit through technical means. A proposal for a real-name obligation was debated but not adopted; that question has been referred to the CDU parliamentary group.
Germany has been an active participant in EUDI Wallet development. More than 75 companies signed a Bitkom memorandum of understanding last November committing to accept the wallet for identification and age checks. Deutsche Telekom and Scytáles were separately selected by the European Commission to develop a privacy-focused age verification solution for the wallet. The SPD’s proposal would bring those technical building blocks into a legislative mandate for online platforms.
The impulse paper positions Germany alongside other European countries examining tighter online age controls. Denmark, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom have each explored similar measures following Australia’s social media ban for users under 16. Whether Germany moves to legislate will depend on coalition agreement between the SPD and CDU in the new Bundestag.
Sources: Heise Online,SPD impulse paper
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
