Germany: Announced Law against digital violence

On 12 April 2023, the German Federal Ministry of Justice issued a statement announcing its intention to initiate legislative proceedings for a Law against digital violence. According to the Ministry's summary, the Law is intended to provide more effective legal protection for people whose personality rights are violated in the digital sphere. Specifically, the Law would make it easier for victims of online violence to identify culprits by expanding an existing legal mechanism to require platforms to provide more user data about culprits, making the mechanism available for all violations of absolute legal rights, and making messenger and telecommunications providers subject to the mechanism. The Law would also give victims a legal right to the blocking of a culprit account on an online platform in the case of certain particularly serious violations. Finally, the Law would expand the obligation for social media platforms to designate a recipient for content moderation issues in Germany.