Impressum on Social Media in Germany: What to Add Where
Short answer
Business profiles aimed at people in Germany need an impressum, a legal notice naming who runs the account. Under § 5 DDG it must be easy to spot, directly reachable and always available. The standard solution is a profile link labelled "Impressum" that reaches the full notice on your website within two clicks.
If you have moved to Germany and opened a business, or you sell to German customers from abroad, sooner or later someone will ask: “Where is your Impressum?” On websites most people get the message. On Instagram, LinkedIn or TikTok, plenty of companies never think about it.
That is a gap worth closing. Between April and June 2025 the consumer organisation Verbraucherzentrale Bayern checked the Instagram profiles of 26 large influencers, each with more than 500,000 followers. It found breaches of the imprint or advertising-disclosure rules in 23 of them. These are accounts with managers and agencies behind them.
What an impressum is and why Germany cares
An impressum is a legal notice that identifies the provider of an online service: who you are, where you can be reached, which register you are in. Since May 2024 the rule sits in § 5 of the Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz (DDG), the Digital Services Act implementation that replaced the old Telemediengesetz. If your current notice still cites ”§ 5 TMG”, update that line while you are at it.
The duty covers commercial digital services, typically offered for payment. Company profiles on social networks count, even though the platform itself is free, because the profile serves your business. Purely private accounts are exempt. The line is crossed quickly though: showing your own products, linking to a shop or posting paid partnerships all make an account commercial.
What about businesses outside Germany? Companies established in another EU country are, as a rule, governed by the equivalent rules of their home country under the e-Commerce Directive’s country-of-origin principle; Article 5 of that directive requires very similar details. For companies outside the EU that actively target German customers, German rules can apply. If in doubt, adding a compliant notice costs far less than arguing about jurisdiction.
What it has to contain
§ 5(1) DDG lists the required information. For most small businesses the list below covers it.
- Full name or company name, with legal form and the person authorised to represent a company
- Full postal address, no PO box
- Email address plus a second fast contact option, such as a phone number
- Register court and registration number, if entered in a commercial or similar register
- VAT ID or business ID number, if you have one
- Regulated professions: chamber, professional title and issuing country, professional rules
- Activities requiring a licence: the supervisory authority
Accounts that publish journalistic content, think of a magazine-style channel with its own reporting, also need to name a responsible person with an address under § 18(2) of the Interstate Media Treaty. Normal company profiles with product shots and team photos generally do not.
How “easy to reach” is interpreted
The law asks for three things: easy to recognise, directly reachable, permanently available. Germany’s Federal Court of Justice set the practical benchmark back in 2006 (judgment of 20 July 2006, I ZR 228/03): reaching the notice in two clicks is acceptable, and link labels such as “Impressum” or “Kontakt” are understood by users. Courts and commentators apply the same logic to social profiles.
So the safe pattern is a profile link labelled “Impressum” that opens your website’s imprint page directly. Linking only to your homepage and leaving people to dig through the footer is weaker.
The consumer organisation’s check reads like a list of what not to do: no notice at all, more than two clicks, dead links, a notice that only appears after tapping “more” or hides behind a link page, and links that lead to a shop’s or an agency’s imprint instead of the account owner’s.
Platform by platform
| Platform | Where to put it | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Bio link titled “Impressum” | Multiple links are possible; give the impressum its own visible link | |
| Facebook Page | Impressum field in page info where offered, otherwise a link in the intro | Check the mobile app shows it without detours |
| LinkedIn company page | “About” section with “Impressum: yourdomain.de/impressum” | The website field alone only points to the homepage |
| TikTok | Profile link, or a short version in the bio | Profile links depend on account type and region |
| YouTube | Channel description with a link in the channel details | Must be findable without expanding long text |
If a platform allows no clickable link, the details go straight into the profile text. On Instagram, with a 150-character bio, that is hardly possible, which is why the link is standard there.
Here is a line you can adapt:
Impressum & privacy: example-gmbh.de/impressum
Privacy information is a separate legal duty under GDPR, but it can sit on the same page or one linked directly from it.
The German peculiarity: warning letters
Most foreigners are surprised less by the fine than by the “Abmahnung”. Under German unfair competition law, competitors and certain associations can send a formal warning letter demanding that you fix a breach and sign a cease-and-desist declaration, usually together with a bill for their lawyer’s fees. The authority route also exists: § 33 DDG allows fines of up to 50,000 euros for failing to keep the required information available.
Neither is likely to ruin you. Both are avoidable with a five-minute fix. For regulated professions or unusual corporate structures, a short check by a German lawyer is worth the money.
Edge cases that come up
If an agency runs your account, the notice still names your company, not the agency. The provider is whoever operates the profile in their own name.
With several locations, each profile must lead to an impressum. One central page works when all branches belong to the same legal entity. Franchisees running a branch as a separate business need their own.
Employees writing about their job on their personal LinkedIn profile do not need the company’s impressum. An account an employee runs on behalf of the company, presented as a company channel, is a different matter.
Beyond the impressum
The imprint is one item on a short compliance list. Paid creator posts need clear labels, explained in the guide to sponsored post disclosure rules. Reels and TikToks bring music licensing questions, covered in music on Instagram Reels for business. Write the rules into your social media strategy once, so they don’t live only in one person’s head.
If you manage dozens of profiles across brands or regions, link checks and required-field audits can be automated, a typical job for a small AI system built for recurring checks.
Next step: open each business profile on your phone, not your laptop, and count the taps until you reach the notice. More than two, or a link that isn’t labelled “Impressum”? Fix it today. The statutory text is available as § 5 DDG on gesetze-im-internet.de.
Questions people ask
Does a private Instagram account need an impressum?
No, not if it is genuinely private. Once you promote products or services, link to a shop or post paid collaborations, the account counts as commercial and the duty applies.
Is a Linktree-style link page enough?
It is risky. The notice must be reachable within two clicks and clearly labelled. A link page adds a step, and the entry there has to say "Impressum" plainly.
What happens if I don't have one?
Authorities can fine a breach of § 5 DDG up to 50,000 euros under § 33 DDG. In practice, warning letters from competitors or associations are more common and come with legal fees.
Can I write the impressum in English?
The law does not prescribe a language, but the notice must be understandable for the audience you target. If your profile addresses German speakers, a German or bilingual version is the safer choice.
