The list is organized by a public institution, but the review teams (that actually put things on the list) are 75% non-government people. There's an appeals process, its use is opt-in.

See http://www.bundespruefstelle.de/bpjm/Service/english.html

Their over-reaction to the unveiled list stems from their (decades-old) fear that "the index" might become kind of a shopping list to minors.