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Friday, November 27, 2020
Whether it’s child pornography or gun sales: the state often lacks an effective tool in the fight against illegal online trade. Therefore, Justice Minister Lambrecht is planning a new crime. Platform operators should no longer be able to excuse their ignorance.
Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht of the SPD wants to curb illegal commerce on the Internet with a new criminal law. The planned new regulation is directed against the sale of child pornography, drugs, weapons or stolen data on the Internet, as announced by the Ministry of Justice. The ministry published the draft law on the criminal responsibility of operating criminal trading platforms on the Internet on Friday.
Countries and associations can comment on this until January 7, 2021. “We need effective and consistent law enforcement in the digital space,” Lambrecht explained. “If business is done on criminal platforms with horrible images of sexual violence against children, no one should excuse themselves that they only provided the platform and did not know anything.” The same applies to arms or drug trafficking, the sale of hacked passwords, or stolen credit card details. Lambrecht declared. All these transactions are punishable.
But investigations against the operators of such platforms were often difficult if they had no idea. “That is why we are creating a new criminal offense and effective means of investigation.” A new paragraph will be inserted in the Penal Code. Anyone who operates a trading platform on the Internet, whose purpose is to allow or promote the commission of certain illegal acts, must be punished with a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine. In the case of commercial activity, the range of the penalty must range from six months to ten years in prison.
Complicity and complicity are punishable even in the absence of knowledge
Finally, the registered illegal acts are listed. This includes all crimes, that is, crimes punishable by at least one year in prison, as well as trafficking in child pornography, narcotics, weapons, explosives, counterfeit money, counterfeit identification cards, and stolen credit card details.
Platform operators whose online forums or marketplaces are used for these acts can be found guilty of the aid. However, if it cannot be shown that the operator is aware of the specific goods being traded, this criminal liability for the aids may be absent, for example in the case of fully automated platforms. In the opinion of the Ministry of Justice, therefore, it is necessary to complement the criminal law.
