Parents share intimate photos of children on Instagram and other platforms, often receiving large attention. Freely accessible images of children can be copied, edited, and placed in new contexts, enabling bullying and sexualized comments. Sexualization and hate appear even in cases involving sleeping babies. Jugendschutz.net, a German child online protection organization, recorded more than 15,000 instances of sexualization, hate, and violence in 2025. The report states that 93% of recorded cases involved sexual violence against children, while 4% related to political extremism. Platform providers including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, and WhatsApp are confronted with findings, and law enforcement is notified. Spotify is also identified as an underestimated platform for far-right music and sexualized violence against minors.
"Parents publicly share photos like these along with emotional and intimate moments of their children, garnering significant attention, likes and followers. But are such photos actually good for the child? Freely accessible images of children are copied, edited and manipulated; placed in different contexts; and used for bullying purposes. Often, sexualized comments are added. Such comments even appeared in the case of the sleeping baby, as documented in the latest annual report by Jugendschutz.net."
"The report shows that young people are still inadequately protected. Jugenschutz.net recorded more than 15,000 instances of sexualization, hate and violence in 2025. "That's just the tip of the iceberg," said Stefan Glaser, head of Jugendschutz.net, which was established by the federal government and the states. The agency receives reports of violations of youth protection regulations, and also conducts its own investigations online."
"Platform providers such as TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Discord and WhatsApp are confronted with the findings, and law enforcement agencies are also notified. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Child pornography, violent fantasies According to Glaser, 93% of all cases recorded in 2025 involved sexual violence against children."
"Four percent of all violations were related to political extremism. In addition, there were extreme expressions of hatred and violent fantasies directed at women and girls. One problem that has been underestimated until now is the music streaming service Spotify, which is increasingly drawing attention as a platform for far-right music, sexualized violence against minors"
#online-child-safety #child-sexualization #hate-and-violence #social-media-platforms #youth-protection
Read at www.dw.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]