A Reality Check on Effective Child and Youth Media Protection

Effective protection of children and young people in the media has always played a major role in media law. In Germany, it is primarily ensured by the Interstate Treaty on the Protection of Minors in the Media and the Youth Protection Act, whereby the differentiated system of regulated self-regulation is of particular importance. Due to digitalisation and the constant availability of the internet, children and young people are also coming into contact with a wide variety of content more and more intensively and at an ever earlier age, not all of which is suitable for them. Advances in the field of artificial intelligence also harbour both opportunities and risks for the protection of children and young people in the media, to which regulators and media providers must respond in order to create a safe environment for minors, especially online. With the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), new tools are being added to the existing regulatory framework.

The speakers on this panel will discuss the extent to which these can be utilised, in particular how new concepts can be developed from them and how they can be integrated into existing ones.