News Overview 2023

We say goodbye to you for this year and thank you for your loyalty. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a good start to 2024! Our materials can also be ordered easily via our website during the holidays and between the years. However, we ask for your understanding that shipping will not be possible again until January 2 due to the Christmas vacations.

The messaging app Threads from Meta is now also available in Germany. Threads broke records in June - over 100 million users signed up within just four days. Only not in the European Union. Threads can now be downloaded from the most popular app stores in the EU. In our article, we explain the risks of the Threads app and what parents should now bear in mind.

Many parents consider sports games to be suitable entertainment for their younger children. After all, you hardly have to worry about issues such as depictions of violence when playing a soccer or basketball game. Nevertheless, some popular sports games such as "EA Sports FC 24" and "NBA 2K24" have now been given the legal age rating "USK 12+". This means that some of them have been given a higher age rating than their predecessors, which were mostly rated "USK from 0". The reason for this is the new test criteria of the Entertainment Software Self-Regulation Body (USK). We tell parents what the new test criteria are and what they need to look out for when buying video games for their children.

Nine digital children's websites made it in 2023. They were awarded the SEITENSTARK-GÜTESIEGEL, which recognizes them as quality-tested children's websites. The SEITENSTARK-GÜTESIEGEL offers children, parents and educators reliable guidance online. The aim of the seal of approval is to promote digital services for children in their entirety, make them more visible and thus contribute to greater safety for children on the internet.

Video games are at the top of many children's Christmas wish lists. However, some parents are unsure which games are suitable for their children. For them, it is worth taking a look at this year's winners of the TOMMI children's software prize. Over 4000 children spent two months testing the best games and educational offers for children and young people in libraries in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. An expert jury had previously determined the nominations. The winners have now been announced.

One in three girls and one in four boys have been sexually harassed online in 2023. 23% were unintentionally confronted with pornographic content in the month prior to the survey. In addition, 14% of young people stated that they themselves had been harassed or insulted online in the last month. These are the results of the JIM Study 2023 conducted by the Media Education Research Association Southwest (mpfs). A total of 1,200 young people aged between 12 and 19 were surveyed throughout Germany for the representative JIM Study 2023.

As part of the nationwide campaign "Don't shirk your responsibility!", posters, TV commercials, numerous campaigns and materials are being used to raise awareness of the issue of sexual violence. The campaign is being carried out by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) and the Independent Commissioner for Child Sexual Abuse Issues (UBSKM). klicksafe is also participating with the joint information brochure "The first smartphone - how can I protect my child from sexual violence on the internet?". It helps parents to deal with the risks of digital sexual violence against children at an early stage.

Playing pranks on each other is part of social interaction. However, jugendschutz.net repeatedly comes across pranks on the Internet in which very young children are deliberately put into emotional states of emergency to amuse the community. jugendschutz.net has compiled information on various pranks of this kind in a new report. We also offer a revised version of our teaching material "Pranks - All just fun??" for download.

Children's rights have existed since 1989 and stipulate that children have special rights to protection, support and participation. Since 1989, however, the way in which children grow up and live has changed fundamentally due to the rapid development of technology. Smartphones, social media and online games have become an integral part of their lives. It has therefore now been established that children's rights also apply on the internet. On Children's Rights Day, klicksafe shows what rights children have in the digital world.

What should I do if I come across abusive images of minors online? Where can I report this content so that it can be removed from the internet? These questions are answered by our partners in the German Safer Internet Center - the complaints offices of FSM, eco and jugendschutz.net - in a new factsheet. In addition, posts on social media summarize the most important points with a wide reach. The occasion is the European Day for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse on November 18.

There is a wide range of different information and entertainment channels on the internet. This often makes it difficult for young people to find safe and reputable content and profiles. Our new scrolling guide helps you to support young people in their self-determined surfing.

Under the motto "Together against cyberbullying", JUUUPORT sends out a strong signal against hate and insults online every year on the third Friday in November. The occasion is the International Day of Action against Cyberbullying, which this year takes place on November 17. With a social media campaign, the advice and education platform wants to make it clear: "Cyberbullying is no fun!"

Since the terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, there have been increasing reports of anti-Semitic attacks worldwide. There are also repeated incidents of anti-Semitism in German schools. Many teachers feel overwhelmed by this. What is still considered freedom of expression? What is a punishable statement? And how do pupils react when, for example, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories are brought up in class? To mark the 85th anniversary of the Reichspogromnacht, klicksafe has compiled resources to help teachers deal with anti-Semitism at school.

JUUUPORT has been helping young people seeking advice with all their questions and problems online for over ten years. JUUUPORT has now comprehensively expanded and updated its services. As a result, the advice platform has been further adapted to the usage habits of young people. As a result, they will be able to find the right help even faster and in a more targeted way for problems such as cyberbullying, fake news or cybergrooming.

It's a horror show: Your own naked pictures appear on the internet and are publicly accessible. Those affected feel exposed and are faced with the problem of having their images deleted from online platforms as quickly as possible. A new tool from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children helps to prevent this from happening in the first place. With just a few clicks, you can prevent your own images from being uploaded to services such as Instagram and TikTok. Take It Down" is now also available in German.