Looking back at the last week in May, we can see that children's rights have now also made it onto the programme of the most important digital policy…

Under the heading ‘Online advertising - between opportunities, law and responsibility’, the 24th edition of the watchdog format of the state media authorities in mid-May also dealt with family influencing and the question of how digital content with children should be realised or better refrained from.

In May 2024, German Constitution celebrates its 75th birthday. As a guarantee for our civil rights, it is a cornerstone of democracy and is rightly honoured not only in Germany, but has also served as a model and blueprint for the constitutions of other countries for 75 years. Spain and Portugal, but also young democracies in Europe, South America and Asia have modelled their constitution on it. And yet, something is missing from the German Constitution: Children's rights!

Anonymity is a premium value that the German government has also enshrined in the coalition agreement for the use of digital services.

The European Commission intends to further develop existing regulations to combat sexual abuse of children. The focus here is on additions that will in future also cover the forms of such violence in digital environments, strengthen the prevention of offences and the support of affected children and promote cooperation between member states in the investigation and prosecution of offences.

More than 600 experts from around the world are meeting this week at the Global Age Assurance Standards Summit (GAASS) half of them onsite while the other half are taking part remotely. The meeting’s purpose is to find out and discuss benefits and pitfalls of different tools in place to gain knowledge on the age of Internet users.

On April 8, ECPAT International, terre des hommes Netherlands and Eurochild presented the VOICE study in Brussels. Together, they surveyed over 400 children and around 6,000 caregivers in 15 countries in Europe, Asia and South America about their attitudes, opinions and experiences regarding children's safety online.

Scientists from the German Center for Mental Health, the Central Institute of Mental Health, the Clinic for Children and Adolescents at the University Hospital in Ulm and the Institute of Criminology at Heidelberg University are jointly conducting a representative national dark field study.

The next European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) will take place in Vilnius (Lithuania) from 17 to 19 June. Under the motto "Balancing innovation and regulation", representatives from politics, the private sector, civil society and academia will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and network.

The German Bundestag today passed the federal government's draft law on the national implementation of the Digital Services Act and thus, among other things, made decisions regarding the corresponding national responsibilities.

Initiating discourse and debate is the declared aim of the "medien impuls" series of events organised by the Freiwillige Selbstkontrollen Multimedia-Diensteanbieter (FSM) and Fernsehen (FSF).

The 19th Internet Governance Forum will take place from 15 to 19 December in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) under the motto “Building our Multistakeholder Digital Future”.