Publications or media likely to harm minors

These include, in particular, publications or media with content that tends to deprave or brutalise, or that incites to violence, criminality, or racial hatred.

The Federal Review Board for Publications Harmful to Minors (Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien) maintains an index of media that have been assessed as harmful. The products concerned are therefore described as indexed media. The provisions of the law for the protection of minors even apply to storage media that are not (yet) included in the index, but the content of which is either completely or largely identical to indexed material, or is very harmful to minors. The media that are very harmful to young persons include those which

• glorify war,
• show people who are dying, or who are, or were, exposed to extreme physical or mental suffering in a manner that violates human dignity, and which show actual events without there being a legitimate interest in reporting of this particular nature,
• show exceptionally realistic, cruel, and sensational images of violence for its own sake, and that dominate the situation shown,
• show children or young people in unnatural, sexually-explicit postures,
• are obviously of a nature that is likely to seriously endanger the process of educating children and adolescents and of developing socially responsible and self-reliant personalities.

Prohibitions

The restrictions arise from the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch - StGB) and the Youth Protection Act (Jugendschutzgesetz - JuSchG). The provisions restricting dissemination of publications/media harmful to young people are contained in Sections 130, 131, 184 and following sections of the Criminal Code, StGB, and Section 15 of the Youth Protection Act, JuSchG. Pursuant to these provisions, the introduction of publications/media that are harmful to young people, for the purpose of dissemination and/or distribution to persons under the age of 18 is prohibited. In the case of media which contain the sexual abuse of children, already the possession as such is prohibited.

Legal consequences

Where inspections reveal that any provision of Sections 130, 131, 184 and following sections of the Criminal Code, StGB, and Section 15, JuSchG may have been violated, the goods shall be seized and passed on to the competent public prosecutor’s office so that criminal proceedings can be initiated.