Overview
- Federal Education Minister Karin Prien proposed regulating messengers such as WhatsApp for minors after a survey highlighted harmful content in class chats.
- The German Teachers' Association called broad bans or sweeping limits 'hardly realistic' and noted that data-protection rules prevent routine teacher oversight of chats.
- A WDR/Infratest dimap survey reported that 82% of pupils use class chats, 92% of those on WhatsApp, and about one third have seen distressing content including bullying, violent images or nude photos.
- BKA president Holger Münch urged stricter consequences for platform operators and clearer thresholds for when platforms must report cases to police.
- EU leaders in Brussels endorsed pushing an age limit for online platforms and asked the Commission to enforce DSA guidelines, reflecting that binding platform obligations must be set at EU level.