• Thema

    Violence against children

    The digital environment may open up new ways to perpetrate violence against children, by facilitating situations in which children experience violence and/or may be influenced to do harm to themselves or others.

    Crises, such as pandemics, may lead to an increased risk of harm online, given that children spend more time on virtual platforms in those circumstances.

Current News

ECPAT - Policy Brief: Small Amounts, Grave Consequences

In July 2026, ECPAT Deutschland e.V. published a study in German. The study focuses on financial transactions related to the sexual exploitation of minors in the digital space. The accompanying policy brief was also made available in English.

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Expert Commission: The digital world must be child-friendly

After 9 months of intensive work, the expert commisison on "Protecting Children and Young People in the Digital World" today presented its recommendations to Federal Minister for Youth Karin Prien. On 4 September 2025, she had appointed eighteen experts from various professions and mandated them to develop a strategy for the protection of young people online, including specific recommendations for action for various stakeholders such as the federal government, the Länder (federal states) and civil society.

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Expert Commission: The digital world must be child-friendly

After 9 months of intensive work, the expert commisison on "Protecting Children and Young People in the Digital World" today presented its recommendations to Federal Minister for Youth Karin Prien. On 4 September 2025, she had appointed eighteen experts from various professions and mandated them to develop a strategy for the protection of young people online, including specific recommendations for action for various stakeholders such as the federal government, the Länder (federal states) and civil society.

UN Report: Getting Children’s Safety Online Right

This brief offers some guidance to help ensure we get children’s safety online right.

jugendschutz.net: 2025 Annual Report

The organization jugendschutz.net has published its 2025 annual report on the protection of minors online.

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Consider children's rights in relation to new gTLDs

The multi-stakeholder community gathered in Seville, Spain, for the ICANN Policy Forum from 8 to 11 June to continue discussing current issues and developments regarding the structuring and safeguarding of the internet. The “Child Protection and Children’s Rights in the Digital World” project run by the Digital Opportunities Foundation has been actively involved in the ICANN community for years, working to ensure that aspects of child protection, in particular, are taken into account within the Domain Name System (DNS).

Protect Children: Research Report on Sexual Violence Against Children Online

Protect Children has published a research report. The report examines the experiences and consequences of sexual violence and exploitation faced by victims both online and offline.

Boarding the train into a sovereign and safe future

The train we are supposed to board next year with our ticket safely stored in the European Digital Identity Wallet is future bound. This is one of the take aways from the European Dialogue on Internet Governance – EuroDIG 2026. The conference was designed to take a look back and forward in Internet Governance based on the WSIS+20 review process and the 20th anniversary of the Top-Level-Domain .eu.

Ansicht: EuroDIG 2025: Aufruf zur Programmgestaltung

EuroDIG: European Voices for the Future of the Internet

The next European Dialogue on Internet Governance (EuroDIG) will take place in Brussels on 26 and 27 May. Under the theme “European Voices for the Future of the Internet – Celebrating 20 Years of .eu and the Beginning of a New Internet Governance Era”, representatives from the fields of politics, industry, civil society, academia and technology will come together to discuss current developments and network. The hybrid event is hosted by the European Commission, at whose premises the conference will take place, and EURid. Registrations for in-person attendance are open until 15 May, whilst for virtual attendance remains open until the beginning of the event.

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Age Assurance: From Regulation to Implementation

Representatives from industry and business, regulatory and administrative bodies, and civil society gathered in Manchester (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) this week, from 14 to 16 April, to exchange information on current developments in the field of age assurance. Following the two previous Global Age Assurance Standards Summits, which focused on the rationale and benefits of standardisation (2024) and the development of effective regulation (2025), this year’s conference centred on the implementation and realisation of age assurance measures.