Who is responsible for safeguarding minors at Blickindex?
Blickindex places the protection of minors at the core of its editorial standards. Overall accountability rests with Editor-in-Chief Thomas Weber, while Standards Lead Laura Hoffmann (emma.sandberg@blickindex.de) is the designated Safeguarding Officer responsible for reviewing all content that involves children or vulnerable young people. The policy is overseen by Rhein Media Ltd., the Gibraltar-registered owner (company number 132410, registered office Suite 5.03, World Trade Center, 6 Bayside Road, Gibraltar GX11 1AA).
Every article that names, images or interviews a minor must receive additional scrutiny from Laura Hoffmann before publication. This includes material submitted by freelancers, wire services or generated with the assistance of AI tools. Our full editorial team structure can be found on the Our Team page.
How does Blickindex ensure care when covering children?
Blickindex follows the principle that the best interests and safety of any minor always come before the journalistic value of a story. We do not publish names, identifiable images or personal details of children without explicit, verifiable consent from a parent or legal guardian, except in cases of clear public interest where such consent cannot be obtained and legal advice has been sought.
Our reporters are trained to assess whether coverage could cause distress, stigmatisation or harm to a child, both in the short term and in the long term. We avoid sensationalising stories involving minors, and we never use language that implies blame or judgment of a child’s behaviour. Any content that references a minor in a context of crime, abuse, family breakdown or ill health is reviewed against the safeguarding policy by the Standards Lead. For further detail on source verification, see our Fact-Checking Policy.
What additional review process is applied to content involving minors?
All editorial pieces that mention, depict or quote a minor receive a mandatory second review by Standards Lead Laura Hoffmann before any version is published, archived or syndicated. This review checks for compliance with Sweden’s press ethical rules, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and Blickindex’s own accuracy and sensitivity standards.
The additional review covers headline choices, image captions, metadata and any associated social media posts. Where AI-assisted tools have been used for drafting or translation, the review confirms that no fabricated quotes or fabrications about the minor have been introduced. The human editor who approves the piece signs off on the safeguarding check. Our full Editorial Policy outlines how every article is fact-checked and approved.
How can I report a concern about content involving a minor?
If you believe that a piece published by Blickindex fails to adequately protect a minor, or if you are a parent, guardian or representative of a child who wishes to raise a concern, please contact our complaints team directly at complaints@blickindex.de. All reports are treated confidentially and reviewed by Laura Hoffmann within five working days.
Complaints may also be submitted via our Complaints Procedure page. We will acknowledge receipt and, where a breach of this policy is found, we will remove or amend the content promptly and issue a correction in accordance with our Corrections Policy. Anonymous reports are accepted but may limit our ability to follow up effectively.
Our commitments
- We will never publish identifying information about a minor without verifiable parental or guardian consent, unless legally required or necessary for an overriding public interest.
- We assign a named Safeguarding Officer – currently Standards Lead Laura Hoffmann – who reviews all content referencing minors before publication.
- We train every journalist and editor in child-protection principles and require them to apply those principles to every story involving a minor.
- We maintain a transparent complaints route (complaints@blickindex.de) and respond to any safeguarding concern within five working days.
- We periodically audit our published content for compliance with this policy and update the policy as Swedish law and ethical codes evolve.