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The German Bundesamt für Justiz (Federal Ministry of Justice) has recognised the Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Multimedia-Diensteanbieter e. V. (FSM) as the first regulated self-regulatory body for the analysis of illegal social network content. This means that online platforms, as part of their obligations to check content, can ask the FSM to decide whether content that users have uploaded to their platform is unlawful. Since the entry into force of the Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz (Network Enforcement Act – NetzDG) in Germany in 2017, social network providers have become more accountable...

On 11 March 2020, the Kammergericht Berlin (Berlin Appeal Court) issued another decision in the case concerning German Green Party politician Renate Künast. It partially amended, in the politician’s favour, the decision taken by the Landgericht Berlin (Berlin District Court) following Künast’s claim against a social media platform for the publication of user data, and decided that a further six of the 22 disputed user comments were libellous. The district court’s original decision not to classify any of the posts as libellous had been heavily criticised by the general...

On 13 February 2020, the German Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz (Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection) published a draft law designed to create a legal framework for free recommendations by influencers and bloggers. The ministry intends to make it clear that comments on products made by influencers on social media free of charge and primarily for information and opinion-forming purposes do not need to be labelled as advertising. The proposed regulations were drafted following several court decisions in recent years in which the commercial nature of...

On 7 February 2020, the German Bundesländer of Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern jointly submitted an “Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Änderung des Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetzes zum Zweck der Erleichterung der Identifizierbarkeit im Internet für eine effektivere Bekämpfung und Verfolgung von Hasskriminalität“ (Draft act amending the Network Enforcement Act in order to facilitate identification on the Internet to combat and prosecute hate crime more effectively) to the German Bundesrat (upper house of parliament). Their main objective is to make it easier to...

In January 2020, after lengthy negotiations, the German Bundesländer reached an agreement on a new system of regulation for gambling in Germany, reflected in a draft Staatsvertrag zur Neuregulierung des Glücksspielwesens in Deutschland (Inter-State Agreement on a New System of Regulation for Gambling in Germany – Glücksspielneuregulierungsstaatsvertrag, GlüNeuRStV). The reforms particularly address the admissibility of various types of Internet-based gambling and the related fields of advertising, the protection of minors and the protection of gamblers.  Under current...