News Overview 2024

The tragic death of a 13-year-old girl is currently being reported across Germany. The girl died in an accident at the end of April while attempting to take part in an online test of courage. Reports of dangerous or even fatal challenges and tests of courage are constantly appearing in the press. klicksafe explains what parents and teachers should discuss with children and young people.

On May 23, the Basic Law celebrates its 75th anniversary. It forms the basis of our coexistence and is a natural part of our everyday lives. However, the articles of the Basic Law often seem abstract and unwieldy, especially to young people. In our teaching unit, pupils learn about important articles of our Basic Law with the help of a digital learning module. They realize that the constitution is the foundation for their lives and their everyday lives and is based on common democratic values.

On May 17, 1990, homosexuality was removed from the list of mental illnesses. And since 2005, the International Day against Homo-, Bi-, Inter- and Transphobia (IDAHOBITA) has been held on this date. The day of action aims to raise awareness of the many forms of discrimination against queer people. The LGBTQIA+ community is also targeted daily on the internet. We show what people can do if they are affected by queer-hostile hate speech.

Stiftung Warentest tested 16 game apps for children. The result: the popular mobile games contained a number of alarming and inappropriate content. This included, for example, depictions of rampages, hate messages and sex scenes. According to Stiftung Warentest, the business models of the app providers are also highly questionable for children. Almost all of the 16 popular games failed the test. klicksafe informs parents how they can accompany and protect their children while playing.

Disinformation and fake news are spreading rapidly on the internet. The good news is that many false claims are not that difficult to spot. This is because the same manipulation techniques and narratives are used again and again. If you know these typical tricks, you can quickly tell whether a report is serious. Or whether it is better to consult other sources. Prebunking is the term used to preventively explain the mechanisms of disinformation. A Europe-wide campaign is now using three videos to draw attention to particularly common manipulation techniques.

In a month's time, many young people will be voting in the European elections for the first time. By lowering the voting age in Germany, this is already possible from the age of 16. Young people inform themselves primarily in a media public sphere in which false reports, populist narratives and conspiracy stories are increasingly becoming a threat to democratic processes. Therefore, today more than ever, media literacy is democratic literacy. We put together suitable materials and tips to support young people in forming their political opinions and information literacy.

The Discord service is particularly popular in the gaming sector. It offers a wide range of communication options via voice or text chat, but also in livestreams or dedicated chat rooms (called "servers"). Extremists have also discovered Discord as a simple and versatile platform for their own communication. They use it to spread their anti-democratic and anti-people messages. And they use Discord to initiate direct contact and influence young users individually. In a new report, jugendschutz.net has summarized how extremists use Discord and what opportunities Discord offers them.

The tech company Meta will now also integrate its AI assistant Meta Llama 3 into WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook under the name Meta AI. The new functions are not yet available in Germany. However, it is only a matter of time before WhatsApp and co. will also be equipped with artificial intelligence here. klicksafe summarizes how Meta AI will change the user experience and what users should pay closer attention to.

More and more people know about and use complaints offices to report problematic online content. This is shown by the huge increase in reports to the complaints office of the Voluntary Self-Regulation Body for Multimedia Service Providers (FSM) in 2023. 30,573 complaints about illegal or harmful online content were received in total. This more than doubles the number of reports compared to the previous year - a new record.

Children and young people can be affected by various forms of sexual violence on the internet. These include sexual blackmail in the form of sextortion. This involves victims being blackmailed with intimate images that they have sent or that were secretly created in a video chat. The US company Meta, which owns WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, is currently testing new measures to better protect children and young people from image-based sexualized violence.

Does the reward function contained in the new TikTok Lite app violate EU rules? The EU Commission is investigating this in a current case against TikTok due to the "risk of serious harm to the mental health of users". How do reward systems in social media or gaming apps influence media use? We provide information on common mechanisms and the associated risks.

Cyberbullying can affect everyone. Even people with disabilities. To help them find help quickly and without barriers, klicksafe and the Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Werkstätten für behinderte Menschen Berlin e.V. (LAG WfbM Berlin) are publishing the Cyber-Mobbing Leichte Hilfe app. This app provides people with disabilities with low-threshold information and support in the event of cyberbullying. In addition to the app for iOS and Android, klicksafe also offers a suitable poster in simple language.

In addition to all the beautiful, interesting and funny content on social media services, there is unfortunately also negative content. For people in an acute crisis or even at risk of suicide, this content can be life-threatening. For example, if it reinforces the negative world view of those affected, condones suicide or even gives instructions for suicide. klicksafe explains why social media algorithms reinforce the problem and how we can help those affected.

Successful TV shows serve as a model: spontaneous surveys of passers-by in the style of TV Total are also well received on social media. On YouTube and TikTok in particular, the videos with so-called street polls receive millions of views. The creators of the formats are celebrated by young people in particular. In a new report, jugendschutz.net takes a look at street polls in which children and young people are exposed or encouraged to engage in dangerous behavior.

The Complaints Office of the German Internet Industry Association eco presented its report for the past year on April 9, 2024. With 17,493 justified cases, the report records a new high in reported legal violations on the internet. The infringements reported by eco were deleted in over 98% of cases worldwide.