Co-funded by the European UnionThe Association of Voluntary Self-Monitoring of Multimedia Providers is basically committed to youth protection in the internet and to the combatting of illegal or youth endangering content or content which is interfering the development of minors in online media.
In 1997, associations of media and telecommunication and companies, which provide online services, founded the Association of Voluntary Self-Monitoring. Beside providers of online content, host and access providers are also members. At the moment, companies like Deutsche Telekom, AOL Germany, Google Germany, Yahoo!, the Federal Association of Digital Economy (Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW), the Association of German Internet Economy (eco) and the Association of Private Broadcast and Telemedia (Verband Privater Rundfunk und Telemedien (VPRT) are associated in the FSM.
The FSM office was established in Berlin in 2002. Beside the manager Sabine Frank, there are seven full-time employees
The work of FSM focuses on the one hand the support of member companies when it acts basically as substitution for the youth protection commissioner; on the other hand there is the work as an institution of Self-Regulation, the German system for youth protection in all media; the FSM processes complaints regarding multimedia content of members and non-members which has been reported to be illegal, youth endangering or interfering the development of minors. Furthermore, the FSM offers awareness trainings in order to encourage media capacity of children and their parents.
The FSM is one of the original members of INHOPE, the umbrella association of international complaint offices and hotlines.
Please find detailed information on the work of the Association of Voluntary Self-Monitoring of Multimedia Providers FSM at www.fsm.de.
