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In a resolution adopted on 11 March 2022, concerning the European Media Freedom Act announced by the European Commission, the German Bundesrat (Federal Council) expressed support for sector-specific rather than fully harmonised regulation in the media sector. The Federal Council welcomed the Commission’s decision to launch a debate on how media freedom could be protected and strengthened in Europe, as well as an open public consultation on the subject. The German Länder believed the answer to this question was crucial for Europe’s future because the EU was not only a single...

In a ruling of 17 March 2022, the Verwaltungsgericht Berlin (Berlin Administrative Court – VG Berlin) provisionally upheld the decision taken by the Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg (mabb) in early February, banning the organisation and distribution of the television channel RT DE, which was broadcast throughout Germany (see IRIS 2022-3/23). The decision had been based on the fact that the channel’s Berlin-based operator, RT DE Productions GmbH, did not hold the licence it required under the German Medienstaatsvertrag (state media treaty) to broadcast at national level. The VG Berlin...

On 15 March 2022, the Kommission zur Ermittlung der Konzentration im Medienbereich (Commission on Concentration in the Media – KEK) published its 7th concentration report, which describes the current status and development of media concentration in Germany and the measures taken to safeguard diversity of opinion in private broadcasting. This year, the report, which is published at regular intervals, focuses on the clear change in the media usage habits of younger age groups in particular, which also has an impact on the protection of media pluralism. The KEK, which comprises six broadcasting...

In a press release of 1 March 2022, concerning its decisions in cases brought by Google Ireland Ltd. and Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd, the Verwaltungsgericht Köln (Cologne Administrative Court – VG Köln) announced that the reporting obligations added to the Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (Network Enforcement Act – NetzDG) under Article 7 of the Gesetz zur besseren Bekämpfung des Rechtsextremismus und der Hasskriminalität (Act on improving the fight against right-wing extremism and hate crime), which entered into force on 1 February 2022, were inapplicable because they...

On 2 March 2022, the Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media – KJM), the German state media authorities’ central supervisory body for the protection of minors in private broadcasting and telemedia, issued a blocking order against the xHamster pornography portal on account of breaches of the Jugendmedienschutzstaatsvertrag (Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media – JMStV). As a result, the five largest German Internet providers were the first to be required to block access to the website “de.xhamster.com”...