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http://dx.doi.org/10.59704/5a6fa658c0600256 https://verfassungsblog.de/just-the-illusion-of-protection/ “Just the Illusion of Protection” - Five Questions to Friederike Wapler Wapler, Friederike Bredler, Eva Maria eng 2026-02-20 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-SA 4.0 In December 2025, Australia became the first country to introduce a statutory age limit for social media. This week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz indicated that he views similar proposals from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) with “considerable sympathy.” Beyond the detailed regulatory questions underlying such a ban – EU competences, app design, enforceability – the debate raises fundamental constitutional issues: How does the German Basic Law allocate responsibility between the state, parents, and children? What is the role of protection, and where does paternalism begin?