The Conference of Interior Ministers (IMK) has made far-reaching decisions at its autumn meeting in Bremen, focusing particularly on the fight against violent pornographic content on the internet and drone defense. According to the will of the interior ministers, viewing violent pornographic content should in certain cases no longer go unpunished in the future.

"Dehumanizing System"

This demand, significantly driven by Hamburg’s Interior Senator Andy Grote (SPD), aims to combat the "dehumanizing system" behind the production of such content by having politicians target the demand side. A holistic approach is necessary, explained Grote: "Therefore, even the possession of violent pornographic content that was clearly created without or against the will of the adult victim must be punishable."

The Social Democrat primarily justifies his initiative with the "Pelicot case." The sensational trial concerning the mass rapes of Gisèle Pelicot in Southern France involves approximately 200 acts of rape. Over a period of years, the woman was secretly drugged by her husband, Dominique Pelicot, and thus rendered defenseless. Without her knowledge, she was then raped and filmed by him as well as by over 80 other men whom he had acquired online. The case became public in 2020 when video recordings of the acts were discovered.

The possession of recordings of a rape or other forms of sexualized violence against an adult person has so far been non-punishable as long as the consumer does not distribute the content themselves. The interior ministers want to close this loophole, which would require an amendment to the Criminal Code (StGB). Paragraph 184a StGB currently only criminalizes the distribution, making available, production, and procurement of violent or animal pornographic content. In contrast, the possession of depictions of child sexual abuse is already a crime that is usually severely punished.

AI-powered Filters: Revival of Chat Control?

Furthermore, according to Grote, the prosecution of illegal violent pornographic content should be made more efficient through powerful, AI-based analysis and filter systems. The goal is to detect and delete such content faster and to prosecute the perpetrators.

The greatest technical and legal challenges lie in distinguishing between prohibited and legal content, as well as in protecting privacy. For such an approach, processes for end-to-end encryption would have to be circumvented, or the data would have to be captured before encryption. Moreover, perpetrators try to circumvent the filters, for example, through minor image editing, so that permanent training of the AI models used would be necessary.

The IMK’s demand for AI filtering ultimately follows the technical logic of the controversial Chat Control. At its core, it is about the question of whether the state can oblige private platforms to automatically scan private, encrypted communication content for illegal material. The IMK appeal expands the scope of illegal content sought from depictions of child abuse to certain types of violent pornography involving adults, which is likely to further intensify concerns about fundamental rights.

Furthermore, the federal government and the states agreed at the Conference of Interior Ministers that the planned joint drone defense center should begin its work in Berlin this year. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) spoke of a "strong command center to detect, repel, and, if necessary, shoot down hostile drones." Grote demanded that operators of critical infrastructures (Kritis) should also be enabled to take their own detection and defense measures. However, the financing issue is causing dissatisfaction among the states. The federal government does not want to provide additional funds. The states must finance the expenses, for example, from their share of the multi-billion euro special fund for infrastructure.

(vbr)

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This article was originally published in German. It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.