GermanyJugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag (JMStV, Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media), Section 4(2)
JMStV Sec. 4(2), consolidated text in force
In force since .
An adult content age verification (AV) rule binding private bodies.
- Age threshold
- 18
- Covered services
- Telemedia (internet) services distributing pornographic content to users in Germany
- How the hook was established
- express
- What makes it apply
- Operator establishment, Market targeting
- Verification methods
- Gov ID, Digital ID, Third party service
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- Applies to providers of telemedia (internet) services distributing pornographic content to users in Germany.
- Do not offer pornographic content unless you ensure it is accessible only to adults through a closed user group (geschlossene Benutzergruppe), typically verified by an age verification system (Altersverifikationssystem) assessed against KJM criteria.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text. Also read by: Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (KJM) (guidance, recorded ); Bundesgerichtshof, judgment of , I ZR 102/05 (ueber18.de) (recorded ).
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionNo
Penalties
Administrative fines (Ordnungswidrigkeit) of up to 500,000 euros and orders to block or restrict noncompliant offerings
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Kommission fuer Jugendmedienschutz (KJM) and the Landesmedienanstalten (state media authorities)
Settledness
Aylo Freesites Ltd. challenged blocking orders issued on KJM decisions, and in April 2025 the administrative courts of Berlin and Neustadt an der Weinstraße rejected its urgent applications as inadmissible.
- As of
- Case link
- https://www.bundesgerichtshof.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/DE/2007/2007149.html
- Guidance link
- https://www.kjm-online.de/themen/aufsicht-internet/pornografie/
- Case citation
- Bundesgerichtshof, judgment of , I ZR 102/05 (ueber18.de)
- Guidance body
- Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (KJM)
- Open questions
- Does the 'geschlossene Benutzergruppe' of Section 4(2), sentence 2, JMStV require authentication at each use, as the KJM's May 2026 discussion paper on age checks says of the closed user group, so that an age check made once at registration, or an age inference from usage signals, does not satisfy it?
- Can the KJM and the Landesmedienanstalten apply Section 4(2) JMStV to a provider established in another Member State, now that Joined Cases C-188/24 and C-190/24 preclude a general and abstract obligation under criminal law and allow only measures that meet the conditions of Article 3(4) of Directive 2000/31?
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Section 4(2) requires the provider to ensure that adult-only offers reach only adults through a closed user group; it states no duty to create or keep a log or record of the check.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Prohibits offering pornographic content in telemedia unless the provider ensures the content is accessible only to adults through a closed user group (geschlossene Benutzergruppe), typically verified by an age verification system (Altersverifikationssystem) assessed against KJM criteria.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app publishes adult content.
Back to the example · Lint your app
Page updated .