Youth Protection
OutaStory is a community for fantasy, romantic fantasy and sci-fi stories. Some of those stories contain themes that are not suitable for all ages. This page explains how we classify content, what we filter automatically, and how parents and guardians can set up additional protection on their devices.
What OutaStory does for youth protection
Every published story carries an age rating chosen by its author. We combine that rating with server-side filtering and machine-readable metadata so that age-appropriate content is the default experience and youth-protection software can reliably recognise our pages.
Age levels
We use the five age steps from the German Jugendschutzprogramm standard, identical to the ratings known from computer games and films:
- 0 — suitable for all ages.
- 6 — mild tension, no disturbing content.
- 12 — adventures, coming-of-age themes, limited violence.
- 16 — mature themes, intense romance, realistic violence.
- 18 — content intended for adults only.
Filtering for visitors who are not signed in
Visitors who browse OutaStory without a user account only see stories rated 0, 6 or 12. Homepage carousels, category pages, language carousels, the audio-stories carousel, search results and direct story URLs are all filtered on the server. This happens regardless of whether a youth-protection plugin is installed, so age-restricted stories cannot be reached by guessing URLs.
Age enforcement in the Children section
OutaStory has a dedicated Children top-level section. Inside it, every story sits in one of six age-banded sub-categories, each with a recommended minimum age that matches the bookshop format readers know:
- Ages 0–2 — Baby Picture Books (rating 0).
- Ages 2–5 — Picture Books (rating 0).
- Ages 3–7 — Read-Aloud (rating 0).
- Ages 6–7 — First Readers (rating 6).
- Ages 8–11 — Children's Novels (rating 6).
- Ages 12+ — Teen Novels (rating 12).
When an author publishes a story in any of these categories, our server checks that the story's age rating matches the band's recommendation and refuses the publish if it doesn't. The author cannot, for example, slip a 16+ story into "Ages 0–2". The publish form already auto-picks and locks the rating, but the decisive check runs on the server on every single publish — not just as a hint in the UI. The result: the rating shown on a Children-category story is the rating that band actually requires. This complements (and does not replace) the age-de-meta-label / jugendschutzprogramm.de scheme described above.
Machine-readable age labels
Each story page publishes its rating as standard meta tags so that browser plugins and search engines can act on it:
- age-de-meta-label — the format defined by the German Jugendschutzprogramm (JusProg). OutaStory also hosts an age-de.xml descriptor at the site root that declares the site-wide defaults.
- rating — the generic tag recognised by Google SafeSearch and most international parental-control filters (values: general, mature, adult).
- RTA-5042-1996-1400-1577-RTA — the ASACP "Restricted To Adults" label, added automatically to any story rated 18+.
How to enable youth protection on your devices
Our meta tags are only as effective as the software that reads them. We recommend installing one of the following tools on devices used by children or teenagers. They are free or built into the operating system.
JusProg (Germany)
JusProg is a free youth-protection browser plugin recognised by the German KJM (Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz). It reads our age-de-meta-label and blocks pages that exceed the age level set by the parent. Available for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.
Google SafeSearch
Google SafeSearch filters explicit search results and reads the generic "rating" meta tag. Enable it from your Google account's search settings; on managed family accounts it can be locked by the parent.
Microsoft Family Safety (Windows)
Microsoft Family Safety is built into Windows and the Edge browser. It blocks adult content by default for child accounts and offers activity reports for parents.
Apple Screen Time (iOS, iPadOS, macOS)
Screen Time → Content and Privacy Restrictions → Content Restrictions → Web Content lets you limit adult websites across Safari and most third-party browsers. Combine it with Family Sharing to manage a child's device remotely.
Google Family Link (Android)
Google Family Link lets parents set content restrictions, approve apps, and enforce SafeSearch on a child's Android device or Chromebook.
Reporting a concern
If you believe a story is mis-rated or violates youth-protection law, please let us know. We review every report and will re-rate or remove content when appropriate. You can reach our youth-protection officer at:
Responsible authorities
For Germany: the Bundeszentrale für Kinder- und Jugendmedienschutz (BzKJ) and the Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz (KJM) are the supervising bodies. OutaStory follows the Jugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag (JMStV) and the Jugendschutzgesetz (JuSchG). If you believe we are not meeting those obligations, you may contact the FSM (Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Multimedia-Diensteanbieter) as an independent complaints body.