DE Digital Violence Bill (GgdG)
Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Stärkung des zivilrechtlichen und strafrechtlichen Schutzes vor digitaler Gewalt (Government Bill to Strengthen Civil and Criminal Law Protection against Digital Violence, including the Gesetz gegen digitale Gewalt, GgdG)
German government bill creating a standalone Digital Violence Act (GgdG) that gives victims court-ordered disclosure of anonymous offenders' identities, data preservation, content removal and temporary account suspension against platforms, and adding Criminal Code offences for sexualised deepfakes, reputation-damaging deepfakes, identity misuse and covert tracking.
Jurisdiction
Germany
Enacted
Pending
Effective
TBD
Enforcement
Civil courts (disclosure, preservation, removal and account-suspension orders); criminal courts; Federal Office of Justice (Bundesamt für Justiz) for the authorised-recipient administrative offence
Government bill adopted by the Federal Cabinet on October 7, 2026 (BMJV press release No. 65/2026) and sent to the Bundesrat and Bundestag. A ministry draft (Referentenentwurf) was first published in April 2026. As drafted (Article 17), Article 10 takes effect the day after promulgation and the rest on the first day of the quarter after promulgation.
Federal Ministry of Justice (BMJV): Government draft (Regierungsentwurf), October 7, 2026Why It Matters
Criminalises the creation, and not only the distribution, of sexualised deepfakes of identifiable people under German law, and replaces the Network Enforcement Act's platform regime, now largely displaced by the EU Digital Services Act, with victim-initiated court procedures against platforms.
Recent Developments
Adopted by the Federal Cabinet on October 7, 2026; parliamentary proceedings in the Bundesrat and Bundestag follow.
At a Glance
Applies to
Harms addressed
Requires
Who Must Comply
- Providers of social networks, messaging services, hosting services and internet access services used to commit listed offences
- Individuals who create or distribute sexualised deepfakes, reputation-damaging deceptive content or impersonating content
Obligations fall on:
Safety Provisions
- Court-ordered disclosure by platforms, messaging services and internet access providers of data identifying a person responsible for a listed offence, in expedited proceedings
- Court orders requiring providers to preserve existing data on the suspected offender until disclosure proceedings end
- Removal of unlawful content on the victim's application even when the offender is unknown
- Temporary suspension of an offender's account by court order for serious violations with a risk of repetition
- Social networks without an EU seat must name a domestic authorised recipient for service of court papers (section 9 GgdG, carried over from section 5 NetzDG)
- Criminal Code section 184k rewritten to cover computer-generated or altered images that appear to show a specific person's sexual activity or unclothed intimate body parts, digital voyeurism, and rape recordings
- New Criminal Code section 201b (distribution of deceptively realistic content harming a person's reputation; satire and mere creation excluded), section 201c (identity misuse) and section 202e (covert surveillance by information or communication technology, including GPS trackers)
- Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG) ceases to have effect the day before the GgdG takes effect (Article 16)
Exemptions
Satire
Satirical depictions are excluded from section 201b (reputation-damaging deceptive content)
- • Satirical depiction
Compliance & Enforcement
Penalties
€500K; criminal (up to 2yr)
Private Right of Action
Individuals can sue directly without waiting for regulatory action.
View on map
Germany
Focus Areas
General regulation
Cite This
APA
Germany. (n.d.). Entwurf eines Gesetzes zur Stärkung des zivilrechtlichen und strafrechtlichen Schutzes vor digitaler Gewalt (Government Bill to Strengthen Civil and Criminal Law Protection against Digital Violence, including the Gesetz gegen digitale Gewalt, GgdG).
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Last updated October 11, 2026. Verify against primary sources before relying on this information.