Overview
- The revised draft from Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig was submitted to the federal cabinet on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, and now begins formal government and parliamentary review.
- The proposal creates new offenses covering possession of recordings of real rapes, the manufacture and spread of sexualized deepfakes, digital voyeurism, identity‑based fake accounts, and repeated GPS or spyware tracking.
- Penalties in the draft include up to two years imprisonment or fines for possession of rape recordings, deepfake creation for private use, and identity misuse, with up to three years for making or distributing rape videos.
- Courts would gain new powers to order platforms, messaging services and internet providers to hand over identifying data, secure stored evidence and permit temporary account suspensions for victims facing repeated harm.
- The change responds to gaps highlighted by cases such as the Leipzig sauna incident, but its impact will depend on platform cooperation, cross‑border data access and likely parliamentary amendments that may reshape technical and rights safeguards.