In this episode, Brink and Härting discuss the Federal Ministry of Justice’s draft bill on strengthening civil and criminal law protection against digital violence.
First, from minute 00:39, Dr Brink and Prof Härting explain what the legislature means by ‘digital violence’ and, from minute 02:52, begin by critically examining the criminal law section of the draft. To what extent is the draft compatible with the principle of the ‘ultima ratio’ in criminal law?
Subsequently, from minute 16:11, Brink and Härting examine the question of whether the draft’s civil law proposals are compatible with the DSA (Digital Services Act). From minute 20:47, the focus is particularly on the judicial blocking of user accounts provided for in the draft.
Finally, from minute 26:30, they discuss the draft’s provisions on claims for information against service providers and the associated orders to preserve evidence. Whilst these are compatible with the DSA, they should be rejected in the context of the introduced data retention measures.
Is the draft to be endorsed from a civil rights perspective?