Did Germany decriminalize the possession of child pornography in 2024? No, that's not true: Possession of child pornography in Germany remains a crime as of this publication. However, in some cases, German lawmakers in May 2024 reduced the minimum jail sentences for possessing, distributing or acquiring such material, while the maximum sentences remained the same.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published on X on December 22, 2024, with a caption that read, "I'm extremely worried about Germany 🚨👇." The post featured a screenshot of a headline that read:
'Pro-Pedophile' Activist Group Celebrates As Germany Decriminalizes Child Porn Possession
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Mon Dec 23 16:59:21 2024 UTC)
The post doesn't give any proof to support its assertion that Germany decriminalized child porn possession in 2024. The image in the post is a screenshot of a headline on the Reduxx website (archived here).
Elon Musk
Elon Musk, the majority owner of X and President-elect Donald Trump's appointee to lead the proposed Department of Government Efficiency, also shared this false claim on social media. In his December 23, 2024, repost, Musk said, "Troubling."
Musk's post (archived here) appears below:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Mon Dec 23 18:04:57 2024 UTC)
The law
On May 16, 2024, the Bundestag, Germany's federal parliament, passed (archived here) a law reducing the minimum sentences for possessing, acquiring or distributing child pornography under certain circumstances.
Before this change, possession carried a minimum sentence of one year in prison. Now, these offenses are classified as misdemeanors, with minimum sentences lowered between three and six months. A Google-translated press release (archived here) from the Bundestag on May 15, 2024, said:
[P]ossession and acquisition will in future be punishable by a minimum sentence of three months' imprisonment, and distribution by a minimum sentence of six months' imprisonment. The offenses regulated in Section 184b of the Criminal Code will thus be classified as misdemeanors...
The Bundestag explained that this change allows for fairer sentencing, especially for young offenders or cases where lighter penalties are appropriate.
In an earlier Google-translated press release (archived here) on the draft law from March 4, 2024, the Bundestag said:
Furthermore, the federal government sees the classification of the crimes as misdemeanors as an effective means of dealing with the numerous juvenile offenders appropriately and flexibly. 'Here too, the people involved are not usually acting in order to be sexually aroused by the child pornography content, but rather out of a drive typical of the adolescent stage of development, such as naivety, curiosity, thirst for adventure or the desire to impress,' the justification states.
The Associated Press reported (archived here) in February 2024 that Germany's cabinet gave the move to reform the law the go-ahead, pending legislative approval by the German parliament.
Bottom line: Even though Germany reduced the penalty for some cases of having child pornography, it's still a crime.
Read more
Other fact-check agencies have reviewed this claim, including Newsweek, Logically Facts, Snopes, Australian Associated Press, The Journal, and Reuters.
Lead Stories fact checks on child pornography can be found here.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks on claims involving Elon Musk can be found here.
