Germany

[DE] Second Report on Youth Protection in Broadcasting and Telemedia

IRIS 2007-9:1/13

Harald Evers

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

In its second report on the implementation of the provisions of the Staatsvertrag über den Schutz der Menschenwürde und den Jugendschutz in Rundfunk und Telemedien (Inter-State Agreement on the protection of human dignity and youth in broadcasting and telemedia - JMStV), the Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz der Landesmedienanstalten (Youth Protection Commission of the regional media authorities - KJM) stressed that the protection of young people in the media must be given greater prominence (for the KJM's first report see IRIS 2005-6: 12). It concluded that the ever-increasing quantity of problematic Internet content and new challenges such as youth protection in mobile communications and online gaming need to be effectively dealt with.

The report covers the period from April 2005 until March 2007. It describes the structure and remit of the KJM. The international dimension of youth protection in the media, which is referred to in the foreword of the document, is particularly reflected in the section on the KJM's activities at European level. The report also includes a chapter on the KJM's experiences with approved voluntary self-monitoring bodies and their decisions. It states that, in most of the cases submitted to the Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Fernsehen (voluntary self-monitoring body for television - FSF) - which published its annual report for 2006 in June - there were no significant differences as far as the evaluation of youth protection was concerned. The report concludes with a section containing ideas for the improvement of youth protection. In that section and in the press release issued in connection with the report, the KJM expresses particular concern about the sharp increase in the number of suggestive images of young people on the Internet.