Germany

[DE] KJM grants conditional approval to new youth protection programmes

IRIS 2015-5:1/11

Cristina Bachmeier

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

Youth protection programmes, alongside technical precautions and watersheds, are a specific instrument that content providers can use to protect young people in accordance with the Jugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag (Inter-State Agreement on the Protection of Young People in the Media - JMStV) when distributing Internet content that may harm the development of young people. The programmes enable parents to unblock internet content that is suitable for their children depending on their age, and to block unsuitable content.

The Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (Commission for the Protection of Young People in the Media - KJM) is responsible for approving youth protection programmes. At its meeting on 11 March 2015, it conditionally approved two new youth protection programmes developed by provider Cybits AG.

The first programme, SURF SITTER Plug & Play, can be set up on a WLAN router and provides an overall solution for the protection of a certain group of users, such as families, nurseries or schools.

The second programme, SURF SITTER PC (full version), functions as a filter to protect children and young people using the internet on a Windows PC.

Approval has been initially granted for two years, during which time both programmes will need to be regularly checked and improved by Cybits AG. The provider must also keep the KJM informed of the progress it has made in developing the programmes further at least once a year.

The creation of new concepts, especially for mobile platforms, and the distribution of youth protection programmes remains an urgent priority for the Commission. So far, four such programmes have been approved by the KJM, the other two being Kinderschutz Software and JusProg.