Ludwigshafen -- Safer Internet Day falls on February 9, 2027, and Germany's klicksafe initiative is calling on schools, companies, authorities and clubs to register their own events now. This year's motto is "Mein Bild – Deine Grenze" ("My Image – Your Boundary"), with a focus on stopping sexualized violence online.
Sextortion and grooming are hitting more children
Sexualized deepfakes, cybergrooming and sextortion are increasingly affecting children and teenagers, according to klicksafe. Sextortion means blackmailing victims with intimate images. One example from the organizers: a girl refuses to send more photos, and the other person threatens to forward her pictures to all her contacts.
The "Bundeslagebild Sexualdelikte zum Nachteil von Kindern und Jugendlichen 2025" (federal situation report on sexual offenses against children and young people) records a clear rise in digital sexual violence against children. Around 5,000 cases last year fell into the category of sexual abuse of children without physical contact. Children were, for example, pressured through chat messages into creating sexual recordings of themselves or performing sexual acts on themselves via livestream.
Offenders operate on services popular with young people, including social media, messengers and gaming platforms. That lets them reach children directly, without their surroundings noticing. The true number of cases is considerably higher, klicksafe says, because many young people do not recognize assaults as such, treat them as normal or do not report them.
72% of teens find unwanted nude images distressing
The JIMplus study 2026 found that unwanted nude images, such as "dick pics," are among the most strongly perceived burdens online. 72% of the surveyed teenagers rated them as "very distressing" or "distressing."
Dr. Marc Jan Eumann, director of the Medienanstalt Rheinland-Pfalz, said platforms must protect minors consistently and called digital sexualized violence a real attack on self-determination and integrity.
klicksafe lists five demands for a safer internet
- Strengthen education and prevention for children, teenagers and adults.
- Support victims with expert help instead of blame; responsibility lies with the perpetrators.
- Hold platforms accountable with easy-to-find reporting channels and consistent deletion of illegal content.
- Encourage civil courage: support victims, report problematic content and avoid spreading it further.
- Expand low-threshold, confidential counseling and reliable information on next steps.
Free classroom and family materials accompany the day
Around Safer Internet Day, klicksafe will offer current teaching materials for educators, parents and teenagers, plus a klicksafe school lesson on the motto topic. Events for Safer Internet Day and the February action month can be registered with klicksafe now, either on the focus theme or on organizers' own internet-safety topics.