Online existence of children and youth becomes more hazardous due to advances in artificial intelligence.
According to jugendschutz.net's annual report, which is a joint effort from federal and state governments, AI is worsening the online threats faced by children and adolescents. The report remarks, "At present, generative AI is making it harder to tell fact from fiction," thereby escalating issues such as sexual violence, bullying, and extremism.
Family Minister Lisa Paus from the Greens adds her thoughts, mentioning that the online sphere is filled with hate speech, provocations, and false information, especially due to a culture that doesn't adhere to social norms consistently. Paus primarily places blame on platform providers for not doing enough to safeguard children and adolescents.
In the previous year, jugendschutz.net dealt with 7,645 instances. More than two-thirds of these cases revolved around sexualized violence, while 12% concerned sexual or pornographic content, and 11% involved political extremism. Additionally, 5% of the cases involved content promoting self-harm, and 2% were related to cyberbullying.
jugendschutz.net forwards violations involving child or adolescent pornographic content, or those posing a danger to life or limb, to relevant authorities or platforms providers. By the year's end, around 90% of the 6,902 cases were resolved.
However, Stefan Glaser, the head of jugendschutz.net, criticized that online service providers are not doing enough to protect children and adolescents. He pointed out that they respond inadequately when violations are reported, and often neglect to verify the ages of users.
The intelligence of advanced AI technologies, such as generative AI, poses a challenge in distinguishing fact from fiction, further exacerbating online issues like sexual violence and bullying. Family Minister Lisa Paus advocates for increased accountability of platform providers, as they have a significant role in safeguarding children and adolescents from the prevalence of hate speech, provocations, and false information.
