26 March 2026
Towards a Legal Concept of Digital Well-Being
The European Commission's preliminary finding on TikTok’s addictive design from last month might be a game-changer for protecting users’ digital well-being under EU law. The Commission’s focus moves beyond illegal content on the platform to the design of the platform itself. For the DSA to make this enforceable, “digital well-being” needs to be operationalised in a way that regulators and platforms can actually measure and mitigate. This blog post begins with the Commission's findings to advance the first steps toward a theory of digital well-being within the EU platform regulation framework. Continue reading >>
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23 March 2026
Another Click in the Wall
The Australian social media ban for children under 16 set in motion a regulatory trend across Europe. Turkey is next in line: On 4 March, a draft law imposing a social media ban on children under 15 and restrictions on children aged 15 and older was introduced in the Grand National Assembly. Although the Turkish approach offers a more nuanced model by introducing a two-tiered system, it appears that some of the central flaws of the current trend are not overcome: it ignores the potential adverse effects of excluding children from the modern public squares. Continue reading >>
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26 February 2026
Social-Media-Verbot à la française
Nun diskutiert auch Deutschland über ein Mindestalter für die Nutzung sozialer Medien. Andere Länder sind da schon weiter: Frankreichs Nationalversammlung hat Ende Januar einen entsprechenden Gesetzesentwurf verabschiedet. In seinem entsprechenden Gutachten hat der französische Staatsrat einige verfassungs- und unionsrechtliche Spannungslagen herausgearbeitet, die auch für die deutsche Debatte Orientierung bieten können. Außerdem legt die Stellungnahme durch ihre flexible Handhabung der Verhältnismäßigkeitsprüfung auch einige blinde Flecken der deutlich rigideren deutschen Verhältnismäßigkeitsdogmatik offen. Continue reading >>13 January 2026
Taiwan’s Xiaohongshu Ban and Freedom of Expression
On December 4, 2025, Taiwan's Ministry of Interior imposed a one-year ban on Xiaohongshu (Rednote), a Chinese social media platform, which has become an important source of everyday information, particularly for younger users in Taiwan. The government’s decision to block access to the platform raises fundamental questions about platform governance in democracies: how should governments balance cybersecurity concerns with freedom of expression? These questions arise with particular intensity in Taiwan. Continue reading >>
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14 November 2025
News, Information, and Knowledge
The EU adopted the press publishers’ right to strengthen the bargaining position of press publishers towards online intermediaries. As an intellectual property right, it gives publishers control over information flows and, by its nature, interferes with freedom of expression. Researchers, however, have an interest in being able to share and reflect upon matters of public interest brought forward by the press in online fora. As such, this post considers the press publishers’ right’s potential to curtail European researchers’ activities. Continue reading >>
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25 October 2025
Democratic Education in a Tempest
The Australian social media ban exemplifies a troubling global trend: governments across democracies are asserting greater control over what students may read, study, or debate – whether through curriculum directives, book bans, or online restrictions. While such measures may be motivated by legitimate concerns for child welfare, they risk undermining democratic education by narrowing civic pluralism and shielding students from contested ideas. Continue reading >>16 July 2025
Independence as a Desideratum
A recent report claiming that EU tech regulation has entered the ongoing trade negotiations with the U.S. has sparked fears that enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA) might be halted altogether. Although the DSA only came into full effect in February 2024, the European Commission’s subsequent enforcement has already showcased conflicts regarding its role as an autonomous political and administrative enforcement body. Considering the potential impact of the DSA on online communication, the Commission’s current role in DSA enforcement raises serious concerns. This calls for a search for alternative models of DSA enforcement. Three options present themselves. Continue reading >>
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24 March 2025
Regulating Social Media for Teenagers
Calls for social media age restrictions are growing in several EU Member States, aligning with broader discussions in Brussels about protecting consumers against ‘addictive’ online services. Recently, Australia approved a social media ban for those under 16, adding momentum to these debates. However, while such restrictions aim to protect children, defining ‘social media’ presents significant challenges that could make a ban ineffective or even counterproductive. Continue reading >>05 December 2024
Why Australia’s Social Media Ban for Kids May Breach Its Constitution
On 29 November 2024, the Australian federal Parliament enacted a world-first law, which imposed a minimum age for access to most social media sites in the country. The law will not come into full force for at least twelve months, to give time to social media platforms to devise appropriate methods for verifying the ages of users. The law might be a rare example that fails the proportionality test. Social media companies have the means and incentive to mount a constitutional challenge to find out; surely they are going to do so. Continue reading >>
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28 June 2024
Das Aus für Influencer in Uniform?
„Officer Denny“ darf keinen privaten TikTok-Account betreiben, mit dem er über seinen Alltag als Polizist in der Bundeshauptstadt informiert. Dies hat das VG Berlin im März bestätigt, nachdem der Dienstherr dem Polizeibeamten untersagt hatte, seinen Account weiter zu betreiben. Die nun veröffentlichten Entscheidungsgründe zeigen, dass das Gericht der Argumentation des Dienstherren weitestgehend folgt. Das VG Berlin verpasst aber die Gelegenheit, Meinungsfreiheit und beamtenrechtliche Neutralitätspflicht überzeugend ins Verhältnis zu setzen. Continue reading >>
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