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On 1 December 2011, the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) adopted the Aufhebungsgesetz zum Gesetz zur Erschwerung des Zugangs zu kinderpornographischen Inhalten in Kommunikationsnetzen (Act abolishing the Act on the obstruction of access to child pornography via communication networks - Zugangserschwerungsgesetz). The Zugangserschwerungsgesetz, which entered into force on 17 February 2010, was designed, inter alia, to make it possible to block Internet sites containing child pornography (see IRIS 2010-4/19). However, after heavy public criticism, in accordance with the coalition agreement of...

On 25 October 2011, the Council for Electronic Media and the State Agency for Child Protection drew up criteria for the assessment of content that is adverse to, or potentially damages, the mental, moral and/or social development of children, in compliance with Art. 32, para. 5 of the Radio and Television Act. The following requirements are among these criteria concerning the programme content of media: 1. Elements of the programme content that may have an adverse impact or create a risk of harm to children, should be located in programme zones where children are not supposed to be the attracted...

On 5 October 2011, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted Recommendation 1981 on violent and extreme pornography. In the Recommendation the Assembly recalls its Resolution 1835 on violent and extreme pornography. The Assembly expresses its concern at the increased accessibility (especially via the internet) to violent and extreme pornographic material. The number of consumers of that type of pornography has risen in recent years. The Assembly is apprehensive about the negative impact of violent and extreme pornography on the dignity of women and on the breach of their right...

On 5 October 2011, the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly adopted Resolution 1834 (2011) and Recommendation 1980 (2011), both aimed at “combating ‘child abuse images’ through committed, transversal and internationally co-ordinated action.” The two policy initiatives are addressed to the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers (Recommendation) vis-à-vis its member states (Resolution) and largely overlap content-wise. Apart from the “dark” nature of child abuse (Resolution, para. 2), the Parliamentary Assembly is “very concerned about the high prevalence of such crimes, […] the way in which...

Dunja Mijatović, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, laid out several basic principles on Internet governance in a position paper released in December. Arguing that the Internet is becoming, more and more, an indispensable tool for all citizens to receive, seek and impart information, she said that governments have an obligation to enable their citizens to access the Internet unhindered; that they must create a legal environment that allows for independent and pluralistic media and the free flow of information across borders. Mijatović said that governments have a role to play when...