Federal Council wants binding youth protection rules for games and films

Today, the protection of minors is largely a matter for the cantons, which leave the problem to the industries. In future, there are to be uniform youth protection regulations for films and video games throughout Switzerland, with the industries continuing to play a central role. This is what the Federal Council proposes in the preliminary draft of the Federal Act on the Protection of Minors in the Film and Video Games Sectors (JSFVG), which it submitted for consultation on Friday.

The aim of the new law is to protect minors from content in films and video games "that could endanger their physical, mental, psychological, moral or social development". The Federal Council considers the current law to be sufficient for generally prohibited content such as child pornography. However, it sees a need for action in the case of depictions of violence and sex or threatening scenes that are unsuitable for certain age groups.

The law is intended to oblige cinemas, video stores, online mail order companies, sales outlets and video portals to carry out age labeling and checks. The creation of a youth protection organization is planned for film and video games. These organizations are to issue youth protection regulations for the respective areas.

According to the Federal Council's proposal, the regulation must include a system for age classification as well as rules for age labeling and age control. The youth protection organizations must create a contact point where complaints can be made about the minimum age set for certain films or games or non-compliance with youth protection regulations.

The organizations can monitor compliance with the rules through test purchases and entries or the opening of test accounts. The Federal Council may also declare the youth protection regulations binding for operators who are not members of the youth protection organizations.

Special regulations apply to on-demand and platform services such as YouTube or Netflix. They must operate an age verification system. Platform services must also operate a reporting office for unsuitable content, while on-demand services must operate a parental control system.

Anyone who does not affix age labels or content descriptors to films or games, does not operate an age control system, does not carry out age controls or does not offer a system for reporting unsuitable content can be fined up to CHF 40,000.

Enforcing the rules abroad remains a problem, particularly in relation to the large international providers. The Federal Council is relying on the market power of the EU. At the end of November 2018, the EU brought the new Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) into force, which Swiss regulation in the film sector is based on.

When it comes to video games, the Federal Council wants to leave the EU's slipstream: Unlike the AVMS Directive, the new Swiss law should also oblige on-demand and platform services that offer video games. However, international enforcement is likely to be problematic.

In order to enforce the rules in Switzerland, the Federal Council wants to be given the authority to take action itself if necessary. It wants to be able to issue youth protection regulations for films and video games if the industries cannot agree on an approvable proposal. They should have at least two years to do so.

The law also creates the legal basis for the tests. It regulates federal and cantonal supervision, monitoring and funding. The consultation period lasts until June 24, 2019.

The Federal Council has rejected purely state regulation, partly due to the high costs involved. It does not want to regulate websites with unsuitable content. According to the report on the preliminary draft, this is not feasible given the international dimension of the Internet and the volume of content. The protection of minors on television will also be tightened, but within the framework of the Radio and Television Act. (SDA)