Archive notice: This article was originally published on July 30, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Under titles such as “Anal but whatever” or “SmPuffWhores”, stern.de, the online magazine of the Hamburg magazine stern, found explicit photos and references to hardcore pornography sites on the Internet. Also on offer: Advice on which sleeping-pill cough-drop mix provides the best high, and tips on “licking dick”.
Alerted to the content by stern.de, the Voluntary Self-Regulation of Multimedia Service Providers (FSM) reacted with alarm. “We see a violation of the applicable youth media protection laws”, Sabine Frank, Managing Director of the FSM, told stern.de. SchülerVZ had “assured that it would remedy the present violations immediately”.
In fact, SchülerVZ only began deleting entries as a result of the stern.de research. 100 of 450 000 groups had been removed, according to SchülerVZ. “We ourselves see a great need for action”, SchülerVZ spokesperson Phillippe Gröschel told stern.de. Konstantin Urban, Managing Director of Holtzbrinck Ventures, to which SchülerVZ belongs, told stern.de: “If it leaves the bounds, it must be ensured that there is a response to it.”
When a concerned father had contacted SchülerVZ a few weeks earlier, however, he was still reassured with a standard email that referred to the site’s “intensive youth protection”.
SchülerVZ continues to reject further measures – such as parental consent as a condition of participation. This was “cumbersome and would slow our growth”, the SchülerVZ spokesperson told stern.de.
The SchülerVZ youth portal has around 890 000 users and, with 30 million page impressions per month, is according to its own information the most popular pupil site on the Internet in Germany.
