News Overview 2020

On Safer Internet Day 2021, klicksafe will be focusing on the topic "Who do I believe? Opinion formation between fact and fake". In keeping with this theme, the new klicksafe handbook "Ethik macht Klick. Opinion Formation in the Digital World". Even before the material is published, we are making six worksheets available for download. This will give you ideas and enable you to carry out practical projects on SID.

Giving children and young people orientation in the digital world

Increasingly, children's influencers are active on social platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. They present themselves and their everyday lives to a broad public - often without thinking about what information they reveal about themselves. Even when parents post a picture with their child on Instagram or publish a joint video on YouTube, children become actors on the Internet at a young age. A working group has now developed recommendations for parents on this topic.

As part of the SCHULE mittendrin project, medien+bildung.com has developed ten thematic learning scenarios, three media practical methods and three entry methods, which are bundled and described in detail in a brochure. The brochure can be ordered or downloaded free of charge.

Young people's everyday life and communication has shifted more to the Internet in 2020 as a result of the Corona pandemic. Young people have thus come into increased contact with problematic online content. In addition to offensive content and hate messages, 12-19 year olds report encounters with fake news, conspiracy theories and extreme political views in the newly published JIM Study 2020. We summarize the results in our new infographic & linking to information and support services.

The year 2020 turned the everyday life of young people upside down: Most leisure activities were not possible, schools were closed for weeks and months, and some learning was done by distance learning. Accordingly, this also led us to expect changes in the media behavior of young people. The JIM Study 2020 examined the most important key figures on media use, media ownership, media handling and usage time. Media use at school or for school under the conditions of the pandemic are also part of the current JIM study.

The Christmas season is upon us, and many people are thinking about what gifts will be under the tree in three weeks' time. Smart devices, i.e. toys or everyday helpers that are constantly connected to the Internet, are in vogue again this year. The Federal Network Agency is currently warning people to critically examine networked devices before buying them. Especially if they are to be used in a child's room.

jugendschutz.net publishes a new report dedicated to the complex relationship between right-wing extremism and gaming culture. The report describes strategies that right-wing extremists use to make their inhuman worldview accessible. According to the report, the platforms on which propaganda and mobilization by right-wing extremists take place are not responding adequately.

Learning videos, VR glasses, Makerspaces: In the children's media magazine Scroller, everything this time revolves around the topic of "learning with digital media".

No one can get past Black Friday Week at the moment, Cyber Monday is just around the corner and Christmas is only a month away. Covid-19 has already made online shopping more important, but it is not until the end of the year that the online shopping frenzy traditionally reaches its peak. klicksafe provides information on how the shopping experience can remain a safe one online.

Today is "End Child Sex Abuse Day". The European day of action focuses on the topic of sexual exploitation of children. klicksafe and its partners in the Safer Internet DE network are participating again this year with information offerings and a virtual parents' evening.

For many, it is an absolute horror: their social media account has been hacked and embarrassing or illegal content is posted and messages sent under their own name. More than half of young Internet users consider this form of identity theft to be one of the greatest dangers on the Internet (source: DIVSI U25 study). However, there are just a few simple measures you can take to protect yourself from unauthorized access to your account.

From 2018 to 2020, jugendschutz.net and European partner organizations examined the phenomena and distribution channels of hate speech online. The newly published report "Hate Speech - A European Comparison" summarizes the results. Anti-Semitic conspiracy myths, in particular, have gained new currency in the COVID-19 crisis. But other already familiar conspiracy narratives, such as the "Great Exchange," were also applied to the new situation.

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is currently taking place. This is an open online discussion platform of the UN that deals, among other things, with the emerging opportunities and challenges of the Internet. klicksafe is participating as a member of the EU network INSAFE with an event that will be livestreamed today starting at 16:10.

The ARD Youth Media Day for students from all over Germany took place today as a web conference. Around 15,000 young people registered for the event and took advantage of the wide range of web workshops on offer. In addition to the more than 100 fully booked workshops, twelve open web talks were also offered. Recordings of these can still be viewed on YouTube by interested parties of all ages.