German Legislations And Legal Practices For Juvenile Protection On Internet

Germany is the first developed country in the world to ever legislate on the censorship of harmful information on Internet. In Germany, the legal sanctions and administrative penalties for protecting juveniles are remarkably strict. Based on the analysis of the legislative process of German legislations and legal practices for juvenile protection on Internet, this article summarized the special"regulated self-regulation"and"Internet content rating"system in Germany. The current German Internet regulations are comprised of two methodologies: (1) strengthening through the improvement of legislation and legal system. The"Jugendschutzgesetz"("the law") and"Jugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag"("the treaty"), both entered into force on April 1, 2003, demonstrate a strong resolution of the German federal and state legislative authority and jurisdiction, and build up the German network "antivirus" umbrella system; (2) enhancing by the self-regulation ability of the Internet and the technology, strengthened by the corporation between the government departments and different social institutions. Finally, through the comparison between China and Germany, the direction and suggestions of how to improve the internet censorship in China are consequently proposed.