Search results : 1375

In its decision of 14 April 2025, the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court – BVerwG) rejected an application from a newspaper publisher (the applicant) for information concerning the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic to be disclosed by the Bundesnachrichtendienst (Federal Intelligence Service – BND). By way of a temporary injunction, the applicant had submitted a list of questions to the BND, asking when the BND had informed the Federal Chancellery of its findings on the origin of the virus, as well as whether and, if so, when this information had been classified as...

At the beginning of April, the CDU, CSU and SPD parties signed a coalition agreement that will form the basis of their government in the forthcoming 21st legislative period of the German Bundestag. The coalition partners of the new federal government believe that independent and diverse media ensure free public debate. Within the dual media system, they favour both pluralistic public service broadcasting and fair regulatory and refinancing conditions for private media. They are reluctant to impose additional advertising restrictions and are examining the introduction of a levy for online platforms...

On 20 March 2025, the Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt am Main Higher Regional Court – OLG) ruled in summary proceedings (case no. 16 U 42/24) that suspicion-based reporting is inadmissible unless the person accused of a criminal offence is given an opportunity to comment on the basis and context of the intended report. Suspicion-based reporting is a form of journalistic reporting in which a possible criminal offence is reported on and the name of the alleged offender is mentioned. Although the scope and limitations of such reporting are not clearly defined, the courts have...

At the end of March 2025, the Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media – KJM) reviewed the youth protection programmes of the audiovisual streaming providers Sky Stream, WOW and O2 TV. Under the provisions of the German Jugendmedienschutzstaatsvertrag (state treaty on the protection of minors in the media – JMStV), it saw no reason to raise any serious objections and concluded that the Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Multimedia-Diensteanbieter (voluntary self-monitoring body for multimedia service providers – FSM) had not exceeded...

In mid-February 2025, Zweite Deutsche Fernsehen (ZDF) and the regional public broadcasters that form the Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ARD) announced that they would continue their extensive voluntary film funding programme. Together with the German Filmförderungsanstalt (Film Support Agency – FFA), which is responsible for film funding in Germany, ARD and ZDF have each signed the 15. Film/Fernsehabkommen (15th film/television agreement). According to Article 132 of the Filmförderungsgesetz (Film Support...