Swiss Esports Federation and the New Youth Protection Law for Movies and Videogames

Objective of the Law: Co-regulated Protection of Minors

Central to this new law is the establishment of a consistent protection framework for minors across both movies and video games in Switzerland. The unique approach of co-regulation is being championed, where the onus is on the industry to enforce the protection of minors within its own organizations, but in alignment with set guidelines. The SESF is in full support of this objective, recognizing the importance of safeguarding the younger generation.

Art. 3: Ensuring Industry-Wide Representation

For the law to be effective, it necessitates a comprehensive and sustainable organization dedicated to the protection of minors. This organization should encompass all relevant stakeholders. Therefore, there’s a proposal to refine Art. 3 para. 1 to guarantee that a majority of entities impacted by the protection of minors and located in Switzerland are either directly or indirectly represented within the industry organization.

The SESF has put forth a slight modification in the wording of Art. 3 to make its intent clearer:

English: “The sectoral organization shall be deemed to be of representative composition if the majority of the operators affected by the regulation on the protection of minors, representing the different types of operators in the same sector, are directly or indirectly represented in the sectoral organization with their registered office or place of business in Switzerland.”

Deutsch: “Die Branchenorganisation gilt als repräsentativ zusammengesetzt, wenn die Mehrzahl der von der Jugendschutzregelung betroffenen Akteurinnen, welche die verschiedenen Arten von Akteuren in demselben Sektor repräsentieren, mit Sitz oder Niederlassung in der Schweiz direkt oder indirekt in der Branchenorganisation vertreten sind.”

Français: “L’organisation de branche est représentative lorsque la majorité des acteurs concernés par la réglementation relative à la protection des mineurs, représentant les différents types d’acteurs du même secteur, et ayant leur siège ou une filiale en Suisse sont représentés directement ou indirectement dans l’organisation de branche.”

In Conclusion

With the suggested elucidation of Art. 3 para. 1 in mind, the SESF endorses the current preliminary draft and deems it to be satisfactory. The federation remains committed to working alongside other stakeholders to ensure the protection of minors in the entertainment industry.

Via: SESF

Feature image of superhero kids: Flickr / 2.0 Generic