Minors' protection: State leaders mandate filters for operating systems

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On Thursday, the heads of government of the federal states decided to reform the Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media (JMStV) at the Conference of Minister Presidents in Berlin. The aim is to install porn filters at the elementary level of PCs, laptops and smartphones and introduce age labeling for websites and apps.

According to the revised paragraph 12, providers of operating systems must in future ensure that they have a "youth protection device". Such a filter system, it continues, "must be able to be activated, deactivated and adjusted in a simple, easily accessible and secure manner".

Windows in child mode

The amendment to the JMStV, which has been controversial for years, is part of the 6th Interstate Media Amendment Treaty. Parents or other authorized persons should therefore be able to set an age specification in the youth protection device. The devices are then automatically set to a corresponding children's or youth mode.

Manufacturers of operating systems must then ensure that "only apps that correspond to the age specification or that have been individually and securely activated can be used". The installation of programs should only be possible via distribution platforms such as app stores that take the age rating into account and have an automated rating system recognized by the Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (KJM).

The use of common browsers such as Chrome, Firefox or Safari will only be possible in special mode if they have a "secure search function" or if unsecured access is enabled individually and in a secure manner. In general, the use of browsers and programs should be "individually and securely excluded". Only apps that themselves have a recognized youth protection program or a comparable suitable means will be accessible regardless of the age level set in the youth protection device.

Obligation to label websites and apps

The current version of Section 5 JMStV already stipulates that providers of content that could potentially impair the development of children or adolescents into a "responsible and socially competent personality" can apply an age label. In principle, they must ensure that young people between the ages of 6 and 18 do not "normally" view such content. The age rating should be readable "by suitable youth protection programs".

The minister presidents ultimately refrained from an explicit obligation to provide apps or websites with an age rating that is recognizable by the operating system. However, those who do not label their relevant offers accordingly must expect that their content will no longer be displayed if the youth protection device is activated.

The extended section 5c JMStV also contains explosive material: According to this, telemedia providers must "indicate the age rating of films, series and game programs" that they offer as their own content "by means of a clearly perceptible label at the beginning of the offer". The "main reasons" for the rating and "risks to personal integrity" must also be explained. This should also apply to moving images or games "which are wholly or substantially identical in content to the rated offer". In an earlier draft, this clause was even broader and in principle also referred to operators of websites and their subpages.

Forced filters without practical added value?

IT and media associations and voluntary self-regulatory bodies railed against a similar initiative in the summer of 2021. In the new attempt, the eco Association of the Internet Industry complained that a de facto obligation to label even unproblematic content would contradict the principle of youth media protection. Such a requirement would be "neither sensible nor proportionate". The Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Multimedia-Diensteanbieter (FSM) criticized that filters as a new, additional legal level for the technical protection of minors in the media would bring "no practical added value".

Germany "already has the highest level of protection for children and young people in Europe", explained Alexander Schweitzer (SPD), Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate. Nevertheless, new ways need to be found to protect children from age-inappropriate content such as pornography, violence, hatred, hate speech and misinformation on the Internet.

"Until now, it has been tedious and sometimes overwhelming for parents to set different protection functions in every app on every device," added Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer (CDU). "In future, a single password-protected entry will be enough to ensure that children and young people can navigate the digital world safely and in an age-appropriate manner."

The state premiers already wanted to introduce a requirement to label Internet content with an amendment to the JMStV in 2010. This ultimately failed because of North Rhine-Westphalia. The current reform still has to be passed by the state parliaments. The heads of government expect to be able to sign the draft "by their conference on March 12, 2025". It will then be ratified by the state parliaments.

Lockdowns to be made more difficult to circumvent

The state premiers also want to strengthen federal media supervision in the fight against illegal content such as freely available internet pornography by introducing new law enforcement instruments: in future, the state media authorities will be able to prohibit banks from making payments to providers abroad.

The amendment will put a stop to the circumvention of blocking orders through so-called mirror domains, i.e. the distribution of identical content under an only minimally changed website address – from portals such as xHamster, Pornhub, YouPorn and MyDirtyHobby. The State Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia in particular is taking action against such sites.

In future, self-regulatory bodies will also be required to draw up specific requirements for the protection of minors in the media with the KJM and decide for themselves whether the systems submitted meet the requirements. The FSM welcomed this in an interview with heise online. However, it remains to be seen whether the youth protection device to be provided in operating systems will have the desired effect. Parents already have "simple and, above all, flexible tools" at their disposal, but they are often not yet sufficiently well known.

(nen)