Publications or media likely to harm minors and unconstitutional publications

To protect public order and morality, the transfer of publications and/or media (including, for example, sound and vision media, data storage media, depictions or other storage media) that are likely to harm minors or that have unconstitutional content into, or out of, Germany is monitored.

Publications or media are harmful to minors if they are likely to endanger the process of educating children and adolescents or their ability to develop socially responsible and self-reliant personalities.

The restrictions arise from the provisions of the German Criminal Code and the Youth Protection Act.

The provisions restricting the distribution of publications and/or media that are likely to harm minors include Sections 130, 131, and 184 and the following sections of the Criminal Code, and Article 15 of the Youth Protection Act, which ban the import or export, in particular, of publications and/or media that are likely to harm minors

• by mail order (Section 184 (1) 4 of the German Criminal Code and Article 15 (1) 5 of the Youth Protection Act),
• or for the purpose of their dissemination among, or distribution to, minors

Pursuant to Sections 184a and 185b of the Criminal Code, insofar as the content of the pornographic material describes violence, the sexual abuse of children, or sexual acts of human beings with animals there are increased penalties. There is a ban on the possession of pornographic material that describes the sexual abuse of children.

The provisions for the import from, or export to, third countries apply by analogy to the transfer of publications and/or media harmful to minors from, or into, Member States of the European Union.

"Unconstitutional publications" is the term used to describe materials the content of which infringes on legally protected interests such as the free democratic constitutional system, or the idea of understanding among nations, or which discredit the symbols of the federal government, its legislative or constitutional organs, or which may harm the reputation and operational readiness of the armed forces (Bundeswehr), or public security bodies (the police, for example).

The following actions come within the scope of the term "unconstitutional publications", and consequently the materials concerned are subject to import and export bans to protect the security of the state:

• Dissemination of the propaganda material of unconstitutional organisations
• The use of the signs or symbols of unconstitutional organisations
• Activity as a secret agent to carry out sabotage
• Disparagement of the President of Germany
• Disparagement of the state and its symbols
• Unconstitutional disparagement of organs of the constitution
• Sedition of the armed forces (Bundeswehr)
• Sedition
• Depictions of violence

The provisions for the import from, or export to, third countries apply by analogy to the transfer of publications from or into Member States of the European Union.