Services for FSM members
The FSM offers a wide range of services for FSM members: We help companies meet the requirements of the law providing them with custom-tailored advice.
We help our clients evaluate legal, technical and educational issues and offer an expert evaluation including a seal of approval. The FSM can be used as a Youth Protection Officer. Rounding out our portfolio is a broad spectrum of advanced training and event services.
“With the help of the FSM, companies can make a key contribution to their corporate social responsibility activities.”
Gabriele Schmeichel, FSM President
We offer privileged treatment in the event of disputes
One major advantage of FSM membership is that in the event of disputes with the federal authorities, first the FSM is engaged as an intermediary, thereby legally ruling out direct sanctions. The FSM has been an officially recognised voluntary self-regulation association since 2005 and as such is part of the regulated self-regulation system that operates in Germany. Recognised self-regulation associations function as a buffer between the state authorities and their member companies. All regular FSM members benefit from this “privilege” effect.
We approve your youth protection programmes
Youth protection programmes can be checked and approved by a officially recognised voluntary self-regulation association like the FSM.
In case of an approval, a certificate is awarded. Companies can use this to draw attention to good offers and to distinguish themselves from competitors.
Their suitability can be checked and approved by a officially recognised voluntary self-regulation association like the FSM. The FSM proofs the system by means of the law (§ 11 par 1 JMStV) and follows the criteria of the German Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (KJM).
Approved youth protection programmes that meet the legal requirements receive a certain certificate.
What requirements youth protection programmes need to fulfil?
- Age-differentiated access to content: If the age level is set, corresponding content and offers are available or blocked.
- Reading of age labels: By means of technical age labelling, the youth protection programme decides whether the respective content is available.
- Identify content that impairs development: Youth protection programmes have to recognise content that can be problematic for children and adolescents of a specific age group.
- Technological maturity: Effective protection against problematic content and easy access to suitable content must be in proportion.
- User-friendliness: Youth protection programmes must be easy to set up so that parents are able use them.
We clarify legal, technical or media studies issues
The Expert Evaluator Commission is a service provided to FSM members for clarifying legal, technical or media studies issues.
The legal youth media protection provisions are complex, and it will often hardly be possible to answer any questions related to these provisions without considering a technical component or issues relating to media impact research. Providing answers to such interdisciplinary questions in the form of an expert evaluation can be costly and time-consuming, assuming the company is able to find a suitable expert evaluator at all.
This is why FSM members can avail themselves of a unique service, based on the association documents of the FSM as well as the German Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media (JMStV) and the statutes and guidelines according to Article 19 Para. 2 JMStV.
The Commission comprises a large pool of experts, selected in tailored constellations to cover every individual case. You will receive a written evaluation specifically addressing the individual requirements of the commissioning agent.
Depending on the nature and scope of the evaluation, it will be carried out either online or in person.
- Fee for online consultation: 700 euros
- In-person consultation: from 2500 euros
Seal of approval
If the subject matter of an evaluation by the Expert Evaluator Commission has consisted of clearly definable content (web content, technical system), and if the content examined is fully in accordance with the FSM’s association documents and with the legal requirements, a seal of approval may be issued, enabling the company to demonstrate at a glance that it is in compliance with the law.
We submit complaints to an independent complaints committee
Complaints received by the FSM will first be reviewed by the hotline staff, and in some circumstances, also submitted to the FSM Complaints Committee.
In the following circumstances, the FSM Complaints Committee is involved:
- Complaints against a member of the FSM, provided the company in question has not already remedied the complaint itself beforehand.
- Complaint that has been referred to the FSM by the German Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (KJM).
If there has been a breach of the legal youth media protection provisions, and if the respondent is not a member of the FSM, the respondent will in principle first be given the opportunity to take remedial action itself. If such action is not taken, the FSM hotline can convene the Complaints Committee. The Complaints Committee comprises 24 members, who come together to decide cases by turns.
The members of the Complaints Committee are drawn from diverse areas of society, including legal experts, media educators and communication scientists. Membership in the Complaints Committee is an honorary post. The Committee members are independent and are not bound by any instructions. They are subject in their work to the Articles of Association, Code of Conduct and Complaint Rules of the FSM.
We certify the qualification of a Youth Protection Officer
Looking at the legally specified duties of the Youth Protection Officer and the requirement for specialist expertise, it is clear that the job can only be filled by someone who already has pertinent experience in the youth protection sector.
According to the German Protection of Young Persons Act (Article 14a Para. 1 No. 2 JuSchG) a Youth Protection Officer needs to proove experience and/or participation in training events to get the required certification by an institution of voluntary self-regulation.
The FSM and the FSF (Voluntary Self-Regulation of Television) offer a range of training events with basic and in-depth courses. You can find more information here.
Further questions? Please contact us directly at office@fsm.de.
Option 1: at least five years of relevant professional experience, responsible as JSB (usually broadcasting and/or telemedia provider).
Option 2: At least three years of relevant professional experience as JSB as well as proof of participation in at least one further training event since the last certification.
Option 3: At least one year of professional experience as JSB as well as proof of participation in at least two training events since the last certification.
Option 4: Less than one year of professional experience as JSB as well as proof of participation in at least four training events.
Option 5: Youth Protection Officers of providers who are not members of FSM or FSF: Proof of participation in at least five training events.
The FSM as Youth Protection Officer
Providers with fewer than 50 employees, or a verifiable monthly average of fewer than ten million website visits over the course of a year can engage a voluntary self-regulation association to carry out the duties of a Youth Protection Officer. Is this offer suitable for you? Get in touch with us: office@fsm.de.
We advise you on topics relating youth media protection outside Germany
Which age brackets are pertinent in Denmark? Who is responsible for the certification and supervision of video-on-demand offers in Great Britain? How can adult entertainment be offered online in Poland without breaking the law? What restrictions are there on advertising in Austria? How can youth protection criteria for films in the USA be reconciled with those in Germany?
We aim to advise our members comprehensively and precisely on specialist questions relating to youth media protection outside Germany, and to put them in touch directly with specialist experts for each respective market. To this end, we have access to a broad network of experts – both academics and those in practice – with whom we have, in some cases, maintained an intensive cooperation based on mutual trust for many years.