Content which may negatively affect the development of children or adolescents into self-responsible and socially competent personalities is called developmentally-impairing content. These include, for example, anorexia forums, immoral and / or brutalizing content...
Developmentally-impairing content may only be distributed under certain conditions. Telemedia providers must ensure that children and adolescents of the relevant age groups do not normally see or hear such content (Section 5 (1) German Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media - JMStV).
Websites have the option of adding a youth protection label that can be read by a recognized youth protection program. This is done by means of an age-de.xml file, in which the appropriate age group is specified. The age groups are similar to those used for labeling of movies: from 0 years, 6 years or older, 12 years or older, 16 years or older, and 18 years or older. Currently, however, content classified as â18 years or olderâ content requires further technical protection; the label alone is not currently sufficient. For more information and help in creating the labels, see JusProg.
Current notice: In May 2019, the Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (KJM) unanimously declared invalid the assessment of the âFreiweilligen Selbstkontrolle Multimedia-Diensteanbieter (FSM)â (voluntary self-regulation of multimedia service providers) regarding the suitability of the âJusProgâ program as a program for the protection of minors pursuant to Section 19b (2) sentence 1 of the German Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media (JMStV). The reason given for this is that the âJusProgâ program does not cover significant parts of the use of media content by minors, since it is designed exclusively for Windows PCs with Chrome browsers. It cannot detect the age rating on the mobile devices and operating systems mostly used by children and young people, Due to the particular public interest, it was decided to implement the measure immediately. The FSM considers the decision and the order for immediate enforcement to be unlawful. It will take legal action against the decision and demand the restoration of the suspensive effect by a court injunction.