alt.hn

2/16/2026 at 5:34:33 PM

Germany Moves Closer to a Social Media Ban for Those Under 16

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-16/germany-moves-closer-to-a-social-media-ban-for-those-under-16

by 1vuio0pswjnm7

2/16/2026 at 8:58:21 PM

I can see fragmentation of social media landscape, because children and teenagers will want to have their socials anyway so they will start using smaller and smaller providers or they will be forced to create their own microsocial networks.

It might be a business opportunity to have something ready and then sell teens white label application for small fee of server hosting. Or they can go even further and have it P2P decentralized like bitchat.

by general1465

2/16/2026 at 9:52:54 PM

> It might be a business opportunity to have something ready and then sell teens white label application for small fee of server hosting.

Jeez, you know we want our children to get away from this crap to begin with. Many parents are talking about reducing their kids social media exposure and want more friction to access.

You sound like the school yard drug dealer.

by wasmainiac

2/16/2026 at 11:41:22 PM

I mean isn't an elegant way how to bypass this regulation - teenagers running their own social networks only with their friends? If you will make it P2P nobody except them have control of their data. That sounds like a killer feature.

I wonder if this is just rambling of mine or if somebody will really pull this off.

by general1465

2/16/2026 at 6:06:05 PM

wild you will be able to drink alcohol before you can have a YouTube account.

by victorbjorklund

2/16/2026 at 8:56:38 PM

comment made me think! I'm old so this was true since youtube didn't get big until i was in my 30s, so maybe it is a good thing :)

by travisporter

2/16/2026 at 7:50:25 PM

Or this kind of regulatory pressure will cause these businesses to stop adding social media functionality into their scope

by squirrel6

2/16/2026 at 8:46:25 PM

You need to be 16 to drink beer or wine, so you will be able to do both at the same age.

by letier

2/16/2026 at 9:22:09 PM

14, if you're with a parent / old enough sibling / legal guardian, and they consent to it.

by loopback_device

2/16/2026 at 7:50:49 PM

[flagged]

by 587687646343767