Better Internet for Kids

As part of the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) Quality Assurance Programme (QAP), the Insafe-INHOPE Coordination Teams are jointly conducting a set of fifteen country visits to national Safer Internet Centres (SICs) to better understand what is happening in the Member States: monitoring emerging issues and challenges, identifying good practices to be shared, and harvesting the results of Better Internet for Kids (BIK) policy. On 2 July 2024, a national visit took place with the German SIC. The meeting was held at the premises of one of the German hotline partners eco - Association of the Internet Industry in Cologne.

The German SIC consortium is composed of five partners: Media Authority of Rhineland-Palatinate (RLP) is the coordinator of the consortium and operates the awareness centre klicksafe. Nummer gegen Kummer e.V. (NgK) provides the helpline services. There are also two hotline services, namely the internet-beschwerdestelle.de operated by eco and FSM as well as the jugendschutz.net.

Until March 2024 the awareness centre activities under the brand klicksafe were jointly operated by the Media Authority of Rhineland-Palatinate (RLP) and Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia (LfM). In this new project cycle LfM stepped out as SIC consortium partner and klicksafe is operated by the Media Authority of Rhineland-Palatinate only. However, this streamlining means that the SIC is able to respond more quickly to emerging trends.

A key part of dissemination activities is the klicksafe website and the online shop. The website content has an automated English translation available with landing pages for both children and for youth. It covers a wide range of themes including AI, apps, challenges, digital games, wellbeing, social media apps, hate speech, chain letters, pornography, eating disorders, and so on. The Klicksafe website won a German award as the best website for parents, teachers and children and young people in 2022.

The shop contains 228 different materials which are available to order as print copies or to download as a PDF. These are free for smaller numbers and there is a charge towards printing for larger orders. Audio, video, and podcast content is also available.

Two apps have been developed to address cyberbullying, a cyberbullying first-aid app as well as an easy-aid version of the same app that was released in February 2024 for people with vulnerabilities. There has been very positive feedback for this app, and it contains a lot of material for teachers and parents.

The Klicksafe youth panel currently consists of 32 students between 11 and 18 years of age. It has a yearly turnover rate of approximately 50 per cent and recruitment for new members are done mainly through school engagements. It was also noted during the national visit that, as part of the new project cycle, the awareness centre is revising the youth panel recruitment process and approach, aiming at:  

• More diversity: Youth panel members should be recruited more from different contexts, e.g. schools, youth centres, child and youth welfare facilities, youth groups with a focus on LGBTQA+, sports clubs, and so on;
• More opportunities for exchange and participation;
• More opportunities to impart skills;
• Strengthen cooperation with the BIK Youth Panel.

Nummer gegen Kummer e.V. (NgK) is an umbrella organisation of the largest telephone counselling service for children and youth as well as parents in Germany. It is a general helpline and is toll-free and anonymous, making use of the harmonised EU 116 111 number. The helpline service provides support for children and young people of all ages, but there is also a helpline for parents and carers since 2001. In addition, as a result of the war in Ukraine, a Ukraine helpline has also been set up to provide support for refugee families (children and parents).

Three cooperating partners with varying background, strengths and expertise are looking after the hotline services as part of the German SIC. All three hotlines – eco - Association of the Internet Industry, The German Association for Voluntary Self-Regulation of Digital Media Service Providers (FSM) and jugendschutz.net – have over 25 years of experience and are INHOPE founding members. The remit is defined in the Interstate Treaty on the protection of minors (JMStV).

There are two national alert platforms for reporting of illegal content on the internet, particularly in respect of child pornography, racism, and xenophobia: internet-beschwerdestelle.de (IBSDE), operated by the hotlines of eco and FSM as independent partners, and jugendschutz.net.

Further information about the German Safer Internet Centre, including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline, and youth participation services, or find similar information for other Safer Internet Centres in Europe.