Hotline
Together for a safer and better internet
Whether pornography, depictions of violence or hate speech: children and young people can come across problematic and possibly illegal content on the internet.
With the support of the German police, but also many international partners, the Hotline of the FSM ensures that illegal content quickly disappears.
You can help too. If you come across such content, report it to us using this form. Our legal team examines each case on its merits and will take appropriate action if the complaint is justified.
Within the framework of the Safer Internet DE network, the FSM-Hotline is co-funded by the European Union.
I would like to report content:
* = required field
Important note: In the case of data that is clearly incorrect or incomplete, we expressly reserve the right not to process your complaint (exception: complaints dealing with content involving sexualized abuse material of minors will be dealt with even if they contain no information other than the place where the content was found). Please therefore make sure that the data you provide is correct. In case you want to complain against the formal hotline procedure please use the escalation email address beschwerdestellenleiter@fsm.de.
“Each report of the complainants is an important contribution combating illegal and harmful content online.”
Martin Drechsler, FSM Managing Director
Important information about your complaint
We cannot process your complaint if your personal information is obviously incorrect or incomplete. Your name and a valid e-mail address are sufficient. An exception applies in the case of complaints about depictions of sexual abuse of children and young people. In this case, it is sufficient to provide the reference. You can still optionally provide your e-mail address, so that we can reach you in the event of any follow-up questions.
We treat communicated personal data confidentially and only pass it on to third parties if this is legally permissible, e.g. if we are obliged to do so by law or if we have obtained the relevant consent. If, for example, violations are forwarded to the German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA), we only transmit the reported URL and do not disclose the name, IP address or other data of the complainant. Personal data is processed electronically and deleted after a complaint procedure. For more details, please see the data privacy statement.
The following content and offers are illegal and can be reported:
- child sexual abuse material (including drawings or texts)
- animal pornography or violence pornography
- depictions of children and minors in unnaturally sexual postures
- glorifying, trivialising or inhumane depictions of violence
- inciting and war-glorifying depictions, propaganda material of unconstitutional organisations
- indexed content (included in the list of media harmful to minors)
- other illegal content or content harmful to minors, which is made available without legally required protection
measures
We are not responsible for the following topics and content:
- insults
- fraudulent websites of e.g. online stores
- violations of personal rights
- login problems
- administration of user accounts
- questions about mobile phone contracts and bills
Yes. The FSM has worldwide connections and is part of the International Association of Internet Hotlines INHOPE – a global network of Internet hotlines to combat child abuse depictions. Despite differing regulations on content relevant to the protection of minors, there is a broad consensus worldwide on the prohibition of illegal content. If the FSM receives a tip about depictions of abuse and the content is hosted abroad, we pass on the relevant information to the responsible international cooperation partner and the BKA.
In principle, there is no obligation to report illegal online content. Nor is there a general obligation to report such content to the police. Reports to the FSM-Hotline are made on a voluntary basis, and complainants are free to file a parallel report with the police. To find out how the FSM-Hotline handles violations of youth media protection laws, see “What happens if there is a violation?”
The FSM-Hotline examines each complaint individually and first determines whether there has been a violation of German youth media protection regulations. If this is the case, various measures can be initiated. Once a procedure has been completed, we can inform the complainant about it in most cases. In some cases, the Hotline convenes an independent decision-making body, the FSM Complaints Committee. In that case, it may take a little longer for you to hear back from the Hotline.
We react differently depending on the violation:
- Child sexual abuse material: Immediate report to our contact persons at the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). Further steps will be taken there. We do not receive any feedback on the outcome of the procedure.
- Violation of other youth media protection regulations: We inform the provider about the violation and give them the opportunity to change their offer and to establish a lawful situation. If the provider does not react, we call in the Complaints Committee or forward the information to the competent authority (e.g. State Media Authorities). Here the complaint will be examined again.
- Complaints against members of the FSM: The Complaints Committee is convened if the member company does not make sufficient changes to its offer in justified cases following our notice or if the Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (KJM) has reported the incident to the FSM-Hotline.
The work of the
FSM-Hotline in figures
In 2023, the FSM-Hotline received a total of 30,573 reports about illegal or youth-endangering online content.
74 percent of cases (22,739 reports) from 2023 were substantiated, i.e. the online content violated German youth media protection laws. This more than doubles the number of reports compared to the previous year (2022: 12,956 reports). In 2023, the FSM-Hotline thus recorded a new high in total reports.
Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) accounted for the largest proportion of substantiated reports at 57 percent (2022: 37 percent). In absolute numbers, this is a new high in terms of reported CSAM. Pornographic content accounted for the second-largest share of substantiated complaints at 39 percent. In addition, there were small proportions of reports regarding depictions of extreme violence (3 %), other content classified as harmful to minors (1 %) and hate crime (1 %).