News Overview

With the new portal "MEDIA easily explained", there is now a central point of contact in plain language on topics relating to media literacy - for people with learning difficulties, limited language skills or a need for reading support. The portal of the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for New Media (BLM) is the first in Germany to bundle media literacy offers in plain language. klicksafe is also represented with two offers.

In a digital world, children are confronted with problematic content at an ever earlier age. Therefore, protection on the Internet is more important than ever. The good news: fragFINN.de, Germany's leading non-commercial children's search engine, is becoming increasingly well-known and popular with children and parents. At the same time, however, the industry is facing a worrying development: the number of safe, child-friendly websites is falling continuously.

Virtual assistants and AI-based interaction platforms have become increasingly popular in recent years. Platforms such as Character.AI also hold a great fascination for children. This is because users can communicate with all kinds of characters that are controlled by artificial intelligence (AI). We explain what parents and educational professionals need to know about Character.AI in order to guide children competently.

Children sucking on ice cream, doing gymnastics in tight leotards or looking wide-eyed at the camera: Photos and videos do not necessarily have to show bare skin to be of interest to pedocriminals. With a new guide, the children's rights organization Save the Children is now calling on schools, kindergartens, clubs and other stakeholders to take a critical look at the publication of all images of children. klicksafe supported the creation of the guide in an advisory capacity.

They are playing on the beach, laughing while eating ice cream or fooling around in the car - pictures of children often seem harmless and adorable. But many adults underestimate this: If such images are posted online, they can cause long-term damage. This is exactly what the initiatives klicksafe, SCHAU HIN!, Gutes Aufwachsen mit Medien, the Federal Agency for Child and Youth Media Protection and the Independent Commissioner for Child Sexual Abuse Issues are warning against with a week of action on social media under #KindersindkeinContent.

With its mentoring program, the "Digital Heroes" project offers a low-threshold opportunity to bring media skills into schools. Schools can now register for the 2025/26 school year. Registration is free of charge for all German-speaking schools. Participants do not need to have any prior expertise in the field of media education. The mentoring program also offers extensive and interactive teaching material with videos, exercises, tasks, work materials and games.

Deepfakes can be impressive, entertaining and funny. On the other hand, the technology is also being misused. For example, AI can be used to generate media content that supposedly shows people naked or performing sexual acts. Deepfakes are also repeatedly used to spread targeted political disinformation. The recording of our web seminar, which is now available, provides teachers, parents and interested parties with basic factual information and raises awareness of the topic of "deepfakes".

The European strategy for a better internet for children (BIK+) has been protecting children and young people in the digital world for three years. A first comprehensive study of the strategy has now been published. It is intended to ensure that the strategy's measures are also effective. More than 750 children and young people and more than 360 adults from all over Europe were surveyed for the study. These included educational professionals, parents and representatives from civil society, academia, industry and politics. klicksafe also supported the study by surveying young people in Germany.

The Data Protection Media Award (DAME) 2024 was presented at the BvD Association Days 2025 in Berlin. This is the eighth time that journalistic and creative contributions that communicate data protection topics in an innovative, understandable and media-effective way have been honored. And which thus make a contribution to the secure handling of personal data. The DAME Award was initiated by the Professional Association of Data Protection Officers in Germany (BvD). We present the winning entries.

The KIM Study 2024 published today by the Media Education Research Association Southwest shows that more than half of six to 13-year-olds are online every day. This means that the intensive use of digital services is shifting into primary school age - often including the use of social media, although this is only permitted from the age of 13 according to the terms of use. Against this backdrop, questions of parental guidance and age-appropriate services are becoming increasingly important. The study will be published today to mark the 25th anniversary of the study series as part of the "Media Literacy Week" in Ludwigshafen. Further results and suitable materials on media education can be found in our news article.

Deepfake technologies can be used to create deceptively real media content - including AI-generated voice fakes. Criminals are increasingly using such tools for so-called shock calls: This involves faking an emergency situation involving a seemingly familiar person. The fake voice can make the call appear particularly credible. We provide information on how to deal competently with such deepfake scam calls.

In 2024, jugendschutz.net documented 17,630 violations of youth media protection. In over 9,700 cases, jugendschutz.net notified providers and self-regulatory bodies of violations and demanded that they be remedied quickly - with great success: In 99% of cases, the services responded by deleting or blocking the content. In particularly serious cases, such as sexualized violence, the organization called in law enforcement authorities. Supervisory cases were forwarded to the Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (KJM) and the Federal Agency for the Protection of Children and Young People in the Media (BzKJ).

Children and young people are at risk of experiencing sexualized violence online. A recent survey shows that a quarter of all children and young people in Germany are affected by cybergrooming - many of those affected are under the age of 14. In an online parents' evening, klicksafe was able to educate parents and guardians on the topic of cybergrooming. The recording is now available to anyone interested.

The AI functions in the Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp services have also been available in Europe for around a month. In order to further develop its artificial intelligence "Meta AI", the parent company Meta now wants to access its users' data. This includes, among other things, all publicly accessible content that users have ever posted on Facebook or Instagram, including images and videos. We explain how you can object to the use of your data until May 26.

News, politics, current world events - children and young people are increasingly searching for information and forming their opinions online. The FSM project "Media in Schools" is publishing new teaching material to strengthen the information and news literacy of vulnerable target groups. By using easy language and adapted tasks, the material is ideal for pupils with a wide range of learning requirements and special educational needs.