You need to know these resources

The internet is fun: snap a round, send 18 tiktoks to Bestie, then binge Wednesday on Netflix.

But there is another level on the Internet that is often only talked about when it is too late for its victims. In the April/May 2023 issue reported Mother Jones of Kiwi Farms – Stuff nightmares are made of: a forum where people band together to persecute people – mostly queer or mentally ill people – through the internet. They stalk their victims’ activities, they harass and bully, insult and doxx, set SWAT teams on them to traumatize them. Their goal: to persuade the victims to commit suicide in order to improve their own statistics. Because whoever can be associated with the suicide gets points.

Fake news and conspiracy ideologies have led to the storming of the Capitol in the USA and ongoing corona demos to deaths due to denied vaccinations and attacks on innocent people. So-called grooming happens on social media: adults contact minors with the intent to abuse them. The children should then send naked photos, for example, which end up in child pornography forums.

With all the fun and danger, it’s even more important to know how to stay safe online. We’ve gathered resources to help you and your family, from detecting deepfakes and fake news to getting help if you hate or grooming are exposed

Fake news is not only used for a few laughs, but also to influence public opinion. For example, Russian propaganda was spread online via deepfakes. Here are some resources to teach you how to spot fake news.

In the game “fake it to make it” Are you a person who wants to make quick money. You create a serious looking page and then copy articles that sound believable but are dramatic for readers to click and share. The goal: to get as much income as possible from advertisements by visiting Fake News.

Behind the bulky title hides a story in three chapters, which aims to show young people between the ages of 16 and 20 in particular how fake news and conspiracy ideologies spread. The players are an intern at a fictitious daily newspaper and have to deal with a bona fide friend, a blogger and fellow editors. Journalistic basics should also be taught, which should help readers to better distinguish between false reports and false reports in the news. The state center for political education in North Rhine-Westphalia is responsible for the game.

“Look at! What your child does with media” is an initiative of the federal government, the AOK, the first and the ZDF, which wants to enable parents to teach their children media skills. There is a lot of information on the website, primarily for parents.

For example, there is some posts and one photo guide, which is intended to sensitize parents to the fact that all photos of their children can be copied and passed on. That means: The children’s photos can anytime in pedocriminal darknet platforms land, no matter how innocent they may be. To do this, Ctrl_F and Panorama have April 2021 published a reporthow children’s photos are misused.

“Look!” also has six media quizzes developed with different focuses, one of them is fake news. The quiz has ten questions and is useful for both teenagers and parents.

If you cannot find out for yourself whether information is correct, reputable facts check editors are the right place to go. Here, among other things, there is the research collective corrective, Mimikamathe fact finder the ARD and the fact fox of the Bavarian Radio.

There are a number of organizations that are committed to developing media skills, especially among children and young people. There are also initiatives from the federal and state governments. On their websites you will find a lot of information material that is easy to understand. Here are some of them:

There are a whole lot of other good organizations out there. It’s best to do more research – and also check which places have which social media presences that can regularly remind you or your children of the basics.

As cautious as we are, sometimes we accidentally fall into the clutches of people who want evil. It is important to open up to people you trust as quickly as possible and to report the incidents. This also applies to adults – you don’t have to tackle such incidents alone. Support is then available from organizations and advice centers, apps and psychotherapists.

crisis chat specializes in counseling minors. Advisors can be reached around the clock via SMS and Whatsapp. There is also a guide section on the website. Safe in the right is a counseling center specializing in the rights of young people online. The free consultation is for people up to the age of 21.

For adults there is, among other things hate aid. There you can reach consultants by phone, chat or contact form. However, the organization also supports the financing of civil law proceedings due to insults, threats or defamation. They also help with criminal proceedings, such as incitement to hatred, but not financially, since these proceedings are run by the state and therefore cost nothing for those affected.

There are also offers that are not specific to incidents on the Internet like the white ring for victims of crime who telephone counseling or number against grief (116 111) for acute psychological stress [U25]-Mail advice the Caritas, that Sexual abuse help line or the youth emergency mail.

Attention: Offers for those affected are usually acute counseling and do not replace constant care. In the long term, bullying and other traumatizing experiences should be dealt with in psychotherapy.

There are tools to help you report or report inappropriate behavior and abuse. With the Hate Aid Reporting Heroes app, you can easily report content, comments and messages on social media. The app is for Android and iOS accessible.

Dickstinction allows you to more easily view people who are sending you a dickpick unsolicited. You fill out the form and print out the result – but you still have to take it to a police station yourself. The portal Ad goes out Similar to Dickstinction, it is intended to provide support in reporting harassment and bullying on the Internet.

Pedocriminal material can be found at Clickanstop.ch be reported. Important: Never take screenshots or download content! This is also illegal for the preservation of evidence. Only the URL has to be entered in the report form, the report is anonymous. The site also offers advice if you receive unsolicited pedophile content, for example in a messenger – or know that such content is circulating in a specific chat. There you will also find further information – for example on sex education, sharing (the excessive sharing of children’s photos on social media), pornography and child trafficking.

Many media literacy offerings are aimed at children and young people. However, it is important that parents also stay up to date with the latest technology and are aware of what is happening to the content their children are uploading.

On the other hand, parents are also responsible for dangers themselves, albeit inadvertently: Excessive sharing, i.e. sharing children’s photos on the Internet, can lead to bullying, sexualized violence and abuse online and offline, many children’s photos end up in pedo-criminals Forums on the dark web.

Finally, even adults are not immune to falling for conspiracy ideologies and fake news – people like Michael Wendler or Xavier Naidoo are proof of this.

If you suffer from depression yourself or have suicidal thoughts, you can always contact the telephone counseling Help. This can be done online or by telephone on the free hotlines 0800/1110 111 and 0800/1110 222 and is anonymous and confidential.