The pandemic dominated the year 2020 in terms of protecting minors in the media.

At jugendschutz.net, we found that children and young people were at an increased risk of coming across harmful content when using messaging services, social networks and playing games. Overstepping of sexual bounds, cyber-bullying, hate and conspiracy theories, violence, violations of privacy, pay traps: all of these lurk just a few clicks away on most of the popular platforms. A particular phenomenon we documented in this past year were the so-called corona challenges, in which young people deliberately risk being infected with the virus.

In such times, effective methods for protecting minors are more important than ever. This allows for quick removal of illegal content, provides support for safe and responsible behavior on the net, and reduces the dangers encountered by young people in the virtual world thus allowing for participation in the most productive way. We believe that the measures taken by providers leave much room for improvement, with many of them failing in their responses to reports about violations.

The online world is constantly expanding and developing, as is the way we interact with it. New challenges in social media or options such as livestreaming can result in new risks. This calls for a flexible response in protecting minors and a rapid reaction to new problems as well as attempts to anticipate prospective developments and their ramifications. We expect to see innovative services, devices, and functions emerging in the near future.

Read more in our 2020 Annual Report.