News Overview 2021

It is not uncommon for children and young people to be contacted by adults on the Internet with sexual intentions. This is shown by a representative survey of children and young people commissioned by the Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia. The survey focused in particular on the phenomenon of cybergrooming, which describes adults contacting children and young people with sexual intentions. A total of more than 2,000 children and young people between the ages of 8 and 18 living in Germany were surveyed.

Never before has the everyday life of children and young people been so closely interwoven with media as it is today. After many months of homeschooling, they are technically fitter than ever when it comes to dealing with digital media. But do they understand the dangers on the Net, such as those posed by violence, pornography, extremism, and even fake news? The latest edition of the Media Authorities' report on the protection of minors and media literacy addresses current social problems, outlines possible solutions and provides a broad overview of the activities of the state media authorities.

Yesterday, the newly founded Competence Network against Hate on the Net officially presented itself in Berlin and began its work.

Manage appointments, check the weather and quickly order a book on the Internet: Voice assistants make our everyday lives easier. However, the help of these clever devices is not free - users pay with their private data, which is monitored, collected and stored. We explain why this is the case and what needs to be taken into account in our Smart Speaker section. In addition to an explanatory video, you will also find tips for parents.

In addition to facts and figures on violations and measures, the current situation report provides information on the dimensions and trends of right-wing extremist propaganda on the Internet.

We are providing you with two new infographics on the current JIM Study 2021. On the one hand, we illustrate the rise of disinformation in the everyday lives of young people. On the other hand, we visualize the digital communication craze among young people between the ages of 12 and 19. The klicksafe infographics are based on the results of the mpfs JIM study. You can download and use them free of charge.

Use the new posters and stickers to draw attention to your #FitForDemocracy event. Both materials are now available free of charge in our ordering system.

The JIM Study 2021 on media use by young people was published today. The results make clear how important it is to promote a safe and competent approach to aggressive and hateful behavior online. For the representative study, 1,200 young people aged twelve to 19 in Germany were surveyed by telephone or online from June 1 to July 11, 2021. In the article you will find the most important results of the JIM study. We have linked suitable information from klicksafe on awareness-raising work with young people below.

The market for game apps is huge - more than 2.2 billion euros were generated through in-app purchases in Germany alone in 2020. Many games rely on manipulative designs, so-called "dark patterns," for this purpose. What does this mean for children and young people? After all, they make up a large part of the players of mobile games. We talk to Judith Eckart and Anja Schneider from jugendschutz.net about their research findings on this topic.

How do you give children orientation for a digital life that no one has ever lived before? Every family must find its own answer to this question, because every child is unique. With its new brochure "Mediennutzung in der Familie" (Media Use in the Family), the Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia wants to make things a little easier for parents.

You can still apply for the DAME data protection media award until December 9, 2021. The award, which comes with 3,000 euros in prize money, honors media contributions that explain data privacy in a clear and understandable way and at the same time address the topics and language of their target group. Two special prizes of 1,500 euros each will be awarded again.

It is important that young people know how to take action and defend themselves in the event of problems in their everyday online life. The advice and help platform jugend.support provides tips and information on digital self-defense on 22 help pages and on its Instagram channel. The new episodes of the video series "Digital Self-Defense" are about more security and account protection on Instagram, TikTok and Co.

More and more children and young people are affected by exclusion and hatred on the Internet. Our handbook "What to do in case of (cyber)bullying" helps you to act professionally in case of bullying. It offers basic information, suggestions for practice and introduces systemic conflict management. An updated version of the handbook is now available to order and as a free download.

How can children and young people learn to handle personal data sensitively? The teaching material "Data Protection Goes to School" provides answers to this question on over 200 pages. It also includes many lesson plans for easy use in schools. With them, students can learn simple rules of conduct for handling their personal data. The updated handbook was produced in collaboration with the BvD initiative "Data Protection Goes to School" and the DATEV Foundation and is now available to order and download.