News Overview 2024

The Media Literacy Action Week (WMK) bundles existing media literacy offers in Rhineland-Palatinate and makes the commitment to more participation in the digital world visible. Between June 24 and 30, municipalities, school and extracurricular educational institutions, associations, companies and many more can offer their own campaigns for the WMK. klicksafe will be represented again this year.

With the arrival of spring, it's time for the traditional spring clean around the house. It is also important to regularly tidy up our digital devices. Make sure that the apps your children use are age-appropriate, safe and educationally valuable. We give you tips on how you can create a positive and safe digital environment together with your child.

Immersing yourself in virtual reality (VR) is no longer just for tech enthusiasts with a lot of money. VR goggles are now also available at affordable prices. And the range of virtual reality games is constantly growing. At the moment, VR glasses are not yet widespread in German households. However, this could change in the near future. We summarize the most important information about VR. And we inform parents whose children are already using VR today.

Hate, incitement and discrimination are finding more and more space online and threaten not only the boundaries of freedom of expression, but also the foundations of our democracy. The new information brochure "Hass im Netz. On the limits of freedom of expression", published by klicksafe in cooperation with the AJS NRW, contains extensive information on the topic of hate speech and supports educational professionals in dealing with the topic in their work with young people.

The Expert Summit "NextGen Media - Digital Trends in the Focus of Child and Youth Media Protection" took place in Berlin on March 19, 2024. The aim was to involve all key players in the discussion on contemporary child and youth media protection. Around 150 experts from research, the internet industry and youth media protection came together for the event. The symposium provided exciting impulses regarding the development and discussion of contemporary child and youth media protection. The Expert Summit was jointly organized by the Federal Centre for Child and Youth Media Protection (BzKJ) and the members of the German Safer Internet Centre - klicksafe, the Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle Multimedia-Diensteanbieter (FSM), the Verband der Internetwirtschaft eco, jugendschutz.net and Nummer gegen Kummer.

Children and young people are receptive to influencer marketing on social media. As a result, young girls prefer to buy expensive anti-wrinkle cream instead of toys and boys protein powder instead of chocolate. "Legging legs" or "Sephora Kids" are trending on TikTok and co. and underage "fitfluencers" are drawing attention to themselves. We explain why these body-related role models on social media can be problematic and what parents need to keep in mind.

At the start of the game, almost every click leads to the goal. But the further players get, the more time and often money they have to invest. Many popular digital games are designed along these lines to maximize profits. If parents want to protect their children from these time and cost traps, they are faced with a problem: parental menus are often so complicated that they offer little support. These are the key findings of a new report on the excessive use of games commissioned by the Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (KJM). Ten games popular with children, such as "League of Legends", "FIFA" and "Clash of Clans", were examined.

Social media platforms are successfully used to spread right-wing extremist, racist and anti-democratic content - including by parties such as the AfD. A recent analysis shows how widely the AfD uses social media compared to other parties. How does this success come about? And what skills do young people need to critically classify manipulative social media content?

We have been focusing our attention on gender equality on March 8 since 1911. Various organizations and activists celebrate the fruits and achievements of a tirelessly fighting women's movement. At the same time, the focus is on topics and areas in which gender equality has still not been achieved. klicksafe is marking International Women's Day by taking a look at the situation of women online and highlighting the consequences of sexism in the digital space.

Why are TikTok challenges so popular with children and young people? And what effect do negative challenge videos have on them? The Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia is investigating these questions in a recent study. More than 750 TikTok users between the ages of 10 and 16 were surveyed and around 2500 TikTok videos were analyzed. The content analysis shows that the majority of videos in circulation are harmless dance or singing challenges. However, around a third of the videos contain potentially harmful challenges and 1% even contain potentially deadly challenges.

Taylor Swift was hit in January. Her nude pictures were distributed on the X platform and accessed millions of times. The images were fakes created with the help of artificial intelligence - so-called deepnudes or deepfakes. Whether fake or not, when intimate or sex-related images are created or distributed without permission, this is sexualized violence. In our new topic area, we explain the various forms of image-based sexualized violence. And what role the abusive use of artificial intelligence plays in this. We also provide tips and support for those affected and inform parents and educators about how they can provide support.

Something is happening again in the field of artificial intelligence. Now that the initial hype surrounding generative speech and image programs such as ChatGPT and DALL-E has died down, the company OpenAI is once again attracting attention. This time it is about the artificial creation of photorealistic videos. The program now presented is called Sora, and although it is initially only available to a small group of users, it is already causing quite a stir online. We explain what Sora can do and the potential impact of artificial intelligence in the field of video.

TikToks, YouTube shorts or Instagram reels - the short clips on social media delight young and old alike. The result: we spend more time on the services than planned. Parents and youth protection officers are particularly concerned about the long dwell times and potential risks of social media use for children and young people. What are operators doing to protect minors on their platforms? As part of the Digital Services Act that recently came into force, the EU has initiated formal proceedings against the video platform TikTok. Among other things, this concerns "addictive design". We provide information on what parents need to be aware of when their children use social media.

On the occasion of the international Safer Internet Day on February 6, 2024, Saferinternet.at presented the results of a new youth study on the topic of "Beauty ideals on the Internet". The study examines the effects of digital media use on young people's body-related self-image. The results show that the pressure on young people to conform to unrealistic body images is high. At the same time, the important role of parents and other caregivers in dealing with beauty ideals becomes clear.

On Safer Internet Day last week, anyone interested was able to ask their questions on the topic of "Let's talk about porn". The experts from the German Safer Internet Center (klicksafe, Nummer gegen Kummer, jugendschutz.net, eco e.V., and FSM) answered the incoming questions in a live chat. Experts from pro familia Munich and sexologist Magdalena Heinzl answered sex education questions. Around 100 questions on the topics of sexuality, sex education and the protection of children and young people were answered on Safer Internet Day. Here are five examples of questions from parents and teachers and our answers. Finally, we list suitable advice and reporting centers.