Pornography, violence or depictions of hatred: children and young people can quickly encounter problematic content on the Internet. To protect children and young people, it is important that these contents are reported – including by young people themselves. That is why the peer-to-peer project JUUUPORT provides an accessible reporting option through which young people can easily flag content that is harmful to their development or youth-endangering. The reports are sent directly to the Internet complaints offices of the Voluntary Self-Regulation of Multimedia service providers (FSM), jugendschutz.net and eco – Association of the Internet Industry. If the reported content violates youth media protection regulations, the Internet complaints offices, with the involvement of other relevant authorities, ensure that the violation is removed. The complaints offices do not pursue criminal prosecution.
Raising awareness among young people about the importance of reporting
“A certain scepticism towards reporting can be felt among many young people. They have the feeling that reporting problematic content often doesn’t make any difference. Or they don’t even know where and how they can report it. It’s also unclear what actually happens to the reported content,” says JUUUPORT scout Fabian. JUUUPORT aims to counteract this scepticism with a campaign. Young people should be made aware of the reporting form and informed about the processes behind a report. This way, young people learn that with just a few clicks they can actively contribute to making the Internet a better place for themselves and their peers.
“Acting together to protect children and young people on the Internet”
The German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth (BMFSFJ) supports the reporting form and the campaign by JUUUPORT. The German Youth Protection Act (JuSchG) and the German Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media (JMStV) stipulate that children and young people must be protected from youth-endangering and developmentally impairing content on the Internet.
German Federal Youth Minister Lisa Paus emphasises: “JUUUPORT demonstrates with its important commitment that young users are not left alone with illegal content. Every user can report such content and contribute to making the digital space safer for children and young people.”
Themed week reporting on TikTok and Instagram
In order to highlight the possibilities and importance of reporting, JUUUPORT will be holding a themed week on social media – particularly on the youth-oriented platforms TikTok and Instagram. During this themed week, information posts, videos with the JUUUPORT scouts, and interactive Instagram stories will be published. JUUUPORT also provides Sharepics that can be shared by other users to take a stand against illegal content together.
Website interviews with Internet complaints offices
Interviews with the Internet complaints offices FSM, jugendschutz.net and eco are published on the JUUUPORT.de website to provide insights into reporting practice and transparently show young people what happens to a report – and how, for example, illegal content is removed.
Martin Drechsler, Managing Director of the FSM, emphasises: “Reports from society, and also from young people, are essential to the work of our complaints office. Only when users report online content to us can we take action and, in the case of illegal content, arrange for its removal. In this way, we all make an important contribution to combatting illegal and youth-endangering online content”
In 2023, the FSM received a total of 30,573 reports – a new record for the complaints office. The eco Complaints Office also recorded an increase in complaints received last year regarding content relevant to the protection of minors in the media. The Head of the eco Complaints Office, Alexandra Koch-Skiba, comments: ‘The increase in complaints shows that our society is vigilant and takes a clear stand against illegal content. Everyone can actively contribute to the removal and prosecution illegal content by reporting it. This insight is extremely important for our work.”
Stefan Glaser, Head of jugendschutz.net, adds: “Children and young people need points of contact where they can turn when they come across harmful content or are bullied or harassed online. We are pleased that, together with the other reporting offices, we can help ensure that such requests to JUUUPORT are promptly addressed”
Tableau of JUUUPORT Scouts in Hannover
Finally, on 14 September 2024 at 4:30 pm JUUUPORT will hold an offline event in Hannover at Kröpcke. The JUUUPORT scouts will stand blindfolded in a circle, each looking at a mobile phone. In the middle of the circle, another scout will hold a sign that reads: “Don’t close your eyes. Report illegal content online!” All scouts will be wearing a white T-shirt with a printed QR code that leads to the JUUUPORT report form. At the end of the tableau, the blindfolds will be symbolically removed.
