# EUR-Lex - 52012DC0196 - EN

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# 52012DC0196

**COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS European Strategy for a Better Internet for Children /* COM/2012/0196 final */**

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

European Strategy for a Better Internet
for Children

As underlined in the EU Agenda for the Rights of the Child[1], the long-term effects
of not investing enough in policies affecting children[2] may
have a profound impact on our societies. Whereas the
Digital Agenda for Europe[3]
aims to have every European digital, children have particular needs and
vulnerabilities on the Internet, which must be addressed specifically so that
the Internet becomes a place of opportunities for children to access knowledge,
to communicate, to develop their skills and to improve their job perspectives
and employability[4].

Children are increasingly exposed to the Internet, through a growing
range of devices and at a younger age. It is therefore necessary to develop now
a proper strategy to encapsulate their needs. New and higher quality content
and services, dedicated to children, have to be developed. Online safety for
children has to be guaranteed. In turn, analyses show that a better and wider
use of the Internet by children is opening the door for intensive business
development in innovative online content and services. Capitalising on the size
of the internal market, European companies can be well placed to seize these
opportunities for growth and jobs.

As
highlighted in the Council Conclusions on the Protection of Children in the
Digital World of 28 November 2011, a combination of policies is required to
deliver a Better Internet for Children. Actions are being developed at the
national, European or sectoral level. They need to be included in an EU-wide
strategy, which develops baseline requirements and avoids fragmentation. Regulation
remains an option, but, where appropriate, it should preferably be avoided, in
favour of more adaptable self-regulatory tools, and of education and
empowerment.

The strategy is articulated around four
main ‘pillars’ that mutually reinforce each other (1) Stimulating quality
content online for young people; (2) Stepping up awareness and empowerment; (3)
Creating a safe environment for children online; and (4) Fighting against child
sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation. It proposes a series of actions to
be undertaken by the Commission, Member States and the whole industry value
chain.

1.           Why is a European
strategy needed now?

1.1.        New opportunities for
children and for business development

Although the internet was not created with children
in mind, 75 % of 6 to 17 year-olds in Europe were reported by their
parents to be using the internet[5].
15 and 16 year-olds report that they first went online when they were 11. By
comparison, 9 and 10 year-olds report that, on average, they began to use it
when they were 7. 33 % of 9 to 16 year-olds who go online say they do so
using a mobile phone or other handheld device[6].

Children have specific needs and
vulnerabilities and their difference has to be recognised. The internet and ICT
provide children with a wide range of opportunities to play, learn, innovate
and be creative, to communicate and express themselves, to collaborate and
engage in society, to be more aware of the world around them, and to develop
essential skills, and exercise their rights[7].
But children also need to be protected.

Paying attention to the demands of children
opens up a wide range of business opportunities. The global digital content
market is predicted to cross 113 billion Euros in 2012[8]. The market worth of mobile
apps was 5 billion euros, and is expected to grow up to 27 billion euros by
2015, mainly driven by games and with more than 5 billion mobile subscriptions
worldwide. The global video game market is predicted reach sales of over 62
billion euros[9].
With the wide proliferation of tablets, smart phones and laptops that children
use heavily, the potential market for interactive creative and educational
online content for both young children and teenagers is substantial. Online and
mobile apps and games provide unprecedented opportunities for business
development, in particular for SMEs and creators, as they allow for direct
contact with potential users/clients. Children themselves could become online creators
and start up businesses.

1.2.        Current gaps and problems

1.2.1.     Market fragmentation

The Commission report[10] on how existing child safety
recommendations are being implemented in the Member States shows that, broadly,
they are making increasing efforts to respond to digital challenges, but the measures
taken are insufficient. Different policies, either regulatory or
self-regulatory, are implemented across Member States – for example for
parental controls, for content rating and for reporting harmful and illegal
content.

In the UK internet service providers (ISPs)
have adopted a code of practice[11]
that promotes "active choice"[12]
whose implementation is left for each ISP to decide; in France, ISPs have to
provide parental control software free of charge; in Germany a certified
"youth protection software" can be used to prevent children from
accessing websites providing harmful content. In other countries no such
provisions exist.

Germany also implements a self-regulatory
framework that allows providers to rate different types of online content such
as videos, websites or online games. In the UK, one of the recommendations of
the Bailey report[13]
was to age-rate music videos. In other countries there are no provisions for
classification of online content.

In Finland and Belgium industry codes of
conduct have also been brokered, for social media in the first case and
addressing a wider range of providers in the second.

In
countries such as the UK, Spain, Italy or the Czech Republic different
reporting mechanisms for harmful and illegal content and behaviour are
implemented with the support of different stakeholders such as the police, NGOs
or industry.

Although these measures can have a positive
impact on the national markets and users, they could also lead to deeper market
fragmentation and raise barriers especially for European providers, including
SMEs that do not have the resources to cope with different policy systems
across borders and cannot benefit from the digital single market. At the same
time, it is clear that not all children across Europe get the same empowerment
and protection opportunities when online.

1.2.2.     Failure of the market to
deliver protection measures and quality content across Europe

Children have yet to be identified as a
target audience worth investing in. Integrating tools for their protection and
which give them the possibility to manage their online presence in a safe and
responsible way (such as parental controls) into devices or services is
frequently seen as an add-on cost and companies are all the more reluctant to
develop and implement such tools if they are not confident that there will be a
market of sufficient size to justify the investment.

Benchmarking of parental controls[14] shows that most tools are only
effective in English. New devices raise further problems: there are not many
tools suitable for game consoles, tablets and mobile phones – the devices
increasingly used by children to go online - and there are no solutions for
users who access content on mobile phones or tablets using an application and
not a browser.

At the same time, there is not enough
quality content available. According to a pan-European survey[15], only 32% of 9-12 year olds
feel that there are enough "good things for kids" of their age to do online[16].

In
sectors such as apps, content classification systems which were not developed
for the European market and users are applied.

1.2.3.     Managing risks in order to
build trust in services and content

Research shows that across Europe,
notwithstanding considerable cross-country variation, the ranking of risks
experienced is fairly similar in each country[17].
In 2010, 4 in 10 children in Europe reported they had encountered one of the
following risks: communicating online with someone they had never met
face-to-face; being exposed to user-generated content promoting anorexia,
self-harm, drug-taking or suicide; being exposed to sexual images online and
misuse of personal data; going to meetings offline with people they first met
online; being cyber-bullied[18].
New patterns of behaviour are also emerging, such as distributing footage,
taken on a mobile phone’s camera, of physical assaults on other children[19] or sending/receiving sexual
images/messages to/from peers[20].

New
services with a potential impact on privacy, such as geo-localisation, are
increasingly popular. Advertising is also thriving online, and children do not
have a developed ability to engage critically with it[21].

In addition, the use of internet is
expanding for the recruitment of victims of trafficking in human beings and
advertising their services, including children[22].
It also provides an environment where it is easy to distribute child abuse
material. While this is not linked to the use of the Internet by children, it
is a problem that affects children as victims. According to the Internet Watch
Foundation (IWF), over 40 % of confirmed child sexual abuse URLs (by
location of hosting provider) are hosted in Europe and Russia. Child sexual
abuse images are now also being distributed online via other channels than
websites (e.g. peer-to-peer networks). Given the borderless nature of the
internet and the fact that child abuse images are illegal across Europe, action
in this field is necessary at European level.

1.2.4.     Lack of skills

While by 2015 it is expected that 90% of
jobs across all sectors will require tech skills, only 25% of young people
across the EU self-report having "high" levels of basic internet
skills (such as use the Internet to make phone calls, create a web page, use
peer-to-peer file sharing)[23].
Research shows that there is a serious digital skills deficit amongst Europe's
children, despite the popular view that they are "digital natives".
For example, 38 % of 9-12 year-olds in Europe who use the internet report
that they have a personal profile on a social networking site. However, only 56 %
of 11-12 year-olds say they know how to change their privacy settings[24]. Research also found that the
range of digital skills and online activities are linked[25]. Therefore, developing safety
skills may encourage other skills associated with other online activities.

2.           A new Eco-System: A European
strategy for a better internet for children

A series of policies have been developed
over the years at the European level to support children. However, they were
often specific, e.g. focusing on media channels[26] or technological platforms[27] and have not been combined in
a coherent framework. EU policies so far have not sufficiently recognised that
children constitute a specific target audience for the Internet, requiring a
new eco-system to support its needs. Europe needs a strategy that will prevent
market fragmentation and create a safer, enriching environment for all EU children
online.

It is proposed to combine a series of
instruments based around legislation, self-regulation and financial support. Legislation
will not be discarded, but preference will be given to self-regulation, which
remains the most flexible framework for achieving tangible results in this area.
However, it needs to be a dynamic process that responds to new challenges such
as technology convergence[28]
and which provides appropriate mechanisms for benchmarking and independent
monitoring. The Commission will also fund actions under the strategy through
the Safer Internet Programme[29]
(2009-2013), the "Connecting Europe Facility"[30] and "Horizon 2020" from
2014[31].

2.1.        High-quality content
online for children and young people

Stimulating
the production of high-quality online content for children and young people benefits
both them and the development of the digital single market. This strategy
supports two strands of action which are clearly intertwined and can only lead
to results if carried out in parallel.

2.1.1.     Stimulating the production
of creative and educational online content for children

Young
children need ‘online playgrounds’ where they can both play and learn; teenagers
could benefit from creative and educational games to stimulate their
imagination and support their positive use of the internet. At the same time,
technology will be used more and more in classrooms for all age groups.
Interactive learning through technology can stimulate creativity and critical
thinking. To facilitate this, it is necessary to stimulate the creation of
content that will support both children's development and a European digital
single market. Some Member States, such as Germany, have launched initiatives
to stimulate the production and visibility of quality content for children with
specific criteria and/or standards.

2.1.2.     Promoting positive online
experiences for young children

A
majority of young people still ‘consume’ online rather than create. The aim is
to encourage creativity and positive use of the internet that will not only
help them develop their digital skills but will also empower them to grow and
shape their world in a safe, creative way, to build communities, and to be active
in a participatory society. It could also give birth to technological
innovation and start-ups that contribute to the digital single market.

The Commission will:

·
support interoperable platforms for tools
ensuring access to age-appropriate content (such as white lists[32] or child-friendly browsers),
while considering the issue of continuous quality control.

·
stimulate innovation in creative content by and
for children by supporting projects and initiatives such as the ‘Best Children’s
Online Content’ competition.

Industry should

·
develop and offer targeted, interactive quality content
for children, as well as user-friendly tools that encourage their creativity
and help them learn.

·
support financially and/or technically initiatives
in this field coming from children themselves, schools or NGOs.

Member States should

·
match the Commission’s support for and actively
promote initiatives aimed at creating high-quality content online for children

·
coordinate between themselves in this field, with
the support of the Commission, and implement standards for quality content
online for children[33].

2.2.        Stepping up awareness and
empowerment

Children, their parents, carers and
teachers need to be aware of the risks children can encounter online as well as
of the tools and strategies to protect themselves or cope with such risks.
Children need to develop their critical thinking and digital and media literacy
skills to be able to actively contribute in a participatory society. They need
access to and advice on how to use tools suited to their age that would help
them act safely and responsibly online. The focus of awareness and empowerment
actions should be to develop self-protection and self-responsibility in the
online environment among children.

2.2.1.     Digital and media literacy[34] and
teaching online safety in schools

Digital and media literacy and skills are
crucial to children's use of the internet. As children start using the internet
at very young ages, it is necessary for online safety education to start in
early childhood, adapting implementation strategies to the different needs and
degrees of autonomy of young children and teenagers. Schools are best placed
for reaching the majority of children, regardless of age, income or background,
as well as other key recipients of internet safety messages, such as teachers
and (indirectly) parents. Online safety as a specific topic is currently
included in the school curriculum in 23 education systems across Europe[35], but is insufficiently
implemented with a lack of relevant online teaching resources. Teaching online
safety in schools is an action also called for in the Digital Agenda for Europe.

Member States should

·
step up the implementation of strategies to
include teaching online safety in school curricula by 2013.

·
reinforce informal education about online safety
and provide for ‘online safety’ policies in schools and adequate teacher
training.

·
support public-private partnerships to reach the
above goals.

The Commission will

·
support the identification and exchange of best
practices among Member States in the areas of formal and informal education on
online safety, the creation of relevant educational content, and public-private
partnerships aimed at reaching out to children, parents, teachers and carers.

·
develop a specific module within Europass for
digital competence and improve the indicators for use and impact of ICT in
education.

Industry should

·
engage in private-public partnerships to support
the development of interactive tools and platforms providing educational and
awareness materials for teachers and children, building on existing initiatives[36]

2.2.2.     Scaling up awareness
activities and youth participation

Good practices have to be scaled up so that
awareness campaigns consistently reach all children, parents, teachers and
carers across the EU[37].
Awareness raising strategies need to consider the different levels of
development of younger children and teenagers, with particular attention to the
youngest and most vulnerable children, including those with learning and
intellectual disabilities. At the same time, peer education is a valuable
strategy for children of all ages to get to know their rights and
responsibilities online.

The Commission will

·
fund, from 2014, the creation of an EU-wide
interoperable service infrastructure to support the Safer Internet Centres,
which provide online safety information and public awareness tools, as well as
platforms for youth participation. The platform will also include benchmarks
for the exchange of best practice[38].

·
revamp the European Youth Portal, in line with
the EU Youth Strategy[39],
to offer a secure and dynamic virtual environment for youth information
sharing. It aims to become the reference for quality youth information on
studying, working, volunteering, youth exchanges, culture, creativity, health
and other youth related areas across Europe and for online youth participation,
reaching out to all young Europeans, including those with fewer opportunities.

Member States should

·
match the Commission’s support for public
awareness raising campaigns at national level.

·
involve children when developing national
campaigns and/or legislation with an impact on their online activities.

·
match the Commission’s support for the national
Youth Panels.

Industry
should support the scaling up of awareness activities by

·
providing funding and technical support to NGOs
and education providers for the development of resources

·
disseminating awareness material to their
customers either at the point of sale or through their online channels.

2.2.3.     Simple and robust reporting
tools for users

To
empower children to deal with risks such as cyber-bullying or grooming[40], robust mechanisms for
reporting content and contacts that seem harmful to children should be
available EU-wide across online services and devices.

These
mechanisms will also complement the objective of making it easier for citizens
to report cybercrimes, particularly in the context of the development of the
network of national cybercrime alert platforms and the future European
Cybercrime Centre[41].

At
the same time, they will complement the 116 hotlines that offer help and
support for missing children and their parents[42]
since online violence against children may constitute some of the causes for
children disappearing from home.

Industry should

·
establish and deploy EU-wide, in cooperation
with relevant national actors, a mechanism allowing children using their
services to report harmful content and conduct. This should be visible, easy to
find, recognisable, accessible to all and available at any stage of the online
experience where a child may need it. It should have clear and commonly
understood reporting categories and a clear back-office infrastructure ensuring
a fast and appropriate follow-up. Reports handling should be done in line with
the legislation in force on data protection.

The Commission will

·
facilitate cooperation between industry involved
in pan-European self-regulatory agreements and the Safer Internet helplines.

·
consider regulatory measures if an industry
initiative fails to deliver.

·
continue to ensure the correct implementation of
the Universal Service Directive as regards the obligation of the Members States
to make 116000 hotlines operational and will also provide funding for the
establishment and running of missing children hotlines.

Member States should

·
provide the necessary support for setting up and
deploying the reporting mechanisms, especially where cooperation with partners
such as helplines and law enforcement bodies is necessary.

·
monitor their effective functioning at national
level.

·
render the 116000 hotlines operational.

2.3.        Creating a safe
environment for children online

While empowerment and education need to be
stepped up, they also need to be complemented by protection. That is because children
do not always see the potential risks they face online and/or are not always
aware of the potential consequences of their actions. However, their exposure
to harmful behaviour or content can result in distressing experiences online or
risks in the offline world. Therefore, it is necessary to implement measures
that would prevent children from coming in contact with such content or
behaviour. The actions proposed address both younger children and teenagers, because
children of different ages use new technologies in different ways and it is not
possible to find a one-size-fits-all solution for all children or for their
safety online. The differences in approach between the age groups are outlined
where necessary.

2.3.1.     Age-appropriate privacy
settings

Although risks to privacy exist for all
users, children are a particularly vulnerable group. Very young children in
particular do not know how to change their privacy settings and do not
understand the potential consequences of their actions, such as becoming an
easy target for grooming or exposing themselves to risks to their online
reputation. Therefore, default privacy settings for children should be managed
in ways that ensure they are as safe as possible.

Industry is
expected to

·
implement[43]
transparent default age-appropriate privacy settings, with clear information
and warnings to minors of the potential consequences of any changes they make
in their default privacy settings and contextual information on the privacy
level of every piece of information required or suggested to set up an online
profile.

·
implement technical means for electronic
identification and authentication.

The Commission

·
proposed a new data protection regulation that
takes specific account of children's privacy and introduces the "right to
be forgotten".

·
intends to propose in 2012
a pan-European framework for electronic authentication that will enable the use
of personal attributes (age in particular) to ensure compliance with the age
provisions of the proposed data protection regulation.

·
will support R&D to
develop technical means for electronic identification and authentication on
relevant services across the EU and their deployment.

Member States should

·
ensure the implementation of EU legislation in
this field at national level.

·
encourage the adoption of self-regulatory measures
by industry and follow their implementation at national level.

·
support awareness raising activities at national
level.

2.3.2.     Wider availability and use
of parental controls

80 % of parents believe that the improved
availability and performance of parental control tools would contribute to
safer and more effective use of the internet by their children[44]. However, on average only 28 %
of parents in Europe block or filter websites visited by their children[45]. With due respect for freedom
of expression, parental controls are a complementary measure that contributes
to protecting younger children from seeing inappropriate content online as they
provide settings for filtering content and monitoring online activity. It is
necessary to ensure the wider availability and use of parental control tools in
several languages to allow parents to make an informed choice on whether to use
these tools.

Industry
should

·
ensure the availability of parental controls that
are simple to configure, are user-friendly and accessible for all on all
internet-enabled devices available in Europe. The tools should be efficient on
any type of device and for any type of content, including user-generated
content. They should comply with best practices to ensure accountability and transparency.
The tools should be promoted so as to ensure the widest possible awareness of
their existence and take-up.

The Commission will

·
support benchmarking and testing of parental
control tools and relevant support services to empower parents and children.

·
support R&D to look into how age-rating and
content classification systems could be made interpretable by effective parental
controls that can deal with a wider range of languages.

·
consider legislative measures if industry
self-regulation fails to deliver.

Member States are invited to

·
support industry’s efforts in this field and to
follow up their implementation on devices sold on their territory.

·
perform tests and certification cycles for
parental control tools.

·
promote their availability.

2.3.3.     Wider use of age rating and
content classification

One of the risks children face online is
seeing inappropriate content (such as pornography or violent content). The
ambition is to have a generally applicable, transparent, and consistent
approach to age rating and content classification EU-wide, for a variety of
content/services (including online games, apps and educational and other
cultural content) and to explore innovative solutions (e.g. rating by users or
automated rating). The system should provide parents with understandable age
categories, while recognising that the same content may be rated as appropriate
for different age categories in different countries. This approach should be
used consistently across sectors, thus addressing the discrepancies in the
implementation of current systems for the different media in order to benefit
market competition.

Industry
should

·
establish an EU approach to age rating and
content classification applicable across services as described above, building
on the success of existing initiatives such as PEGI.

·
look into how these systems could be made
interpretable by parental controls.

The Commission will support

·
self-regulation in this field but will also look
into possible legislative measures if industry self-regulation fails to deliver.

·
from 2014 the deployment of interoperable
platforms to provide age-appropriate services.

Member States are invited to

·
cooperate in line with their own regulations in
the field and encourage relevant stakeholders at national level to contribute
to the definition and implementation of EU age-rating and content
classification systems.

·
support the complaints process necessary for the
proper functioning of such systems.

2.3.4.     Online advertising and
overspending

Children,
especially younger ones, do not have a developed ability to engage critically
with advertising messages. In virtual worlds, children can often pay for
virtual goods via their mobile phones, by calling or texting, and therefore
with no prior parental permission necessary[46].
Children may also seek to access online gambling or gaming sites. They can
download ringtones for their mobile phones or accidentally access the internet
on their mobiles. All this may incur high charges.

The aims are to make sure that standards
for advertising on websites for children allow a level of protection comparable
to that of advertising in the audiovisual services[47] and that, with regard to
behavioural advertising, no such segments are created to target children, and to
ensure that spending online or on mobile phones by children does not generate
unforeseen high costs.

Industry shall
observe the legislation in force[48],
particularly as regards online profiling and behavioural advertising. It should

·
provide transparent, clear and age-appropriate
information about the costs of services that can be acquired online and avoid
default settings that would easily allow children to access premium services
for which additional payment is necessary.

·
avoid addressing children directly and
encouraging them to buy virtual goods or credits with their mobile phone or
other means that do not require prior parental control. Contextual early
warnings about additional costs should be envisaged to empower children and
parents.

·
build on self-regulatory standards such as those
defined by the European Advertising Standards Alliance for behavioural
advertising[49]
and proactively implement measures to avoid the exposure of children to inappropriate
advertising in any form of online media.

·
adopt measures to prevent children from accessing
on-line gambling sites.

The Commission will

·
step up the enforcement of existing EU rules and
stimulate further self-regulatory measures in order to better protect children
from inappropriate advertising and overspending.

·
look into further legislation if self-regulatory
measures fail to deliver.

·
expand on the wider issue of children as
consumers in the forthcoming Consumer Agenda.

·
look into how best to improve the protection of
minors in a Communication on on-line gambling in the Internal Market to be
presented in 2012.

Member States are invited to

·
ensure that legislation in this field is observed
by companies active at national level.

·
support industry in developing codes of conduct
regarding inappropriate advertising online and to monitor their implementation
at national level.

2.4.        Fighting against child
sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation

The internet is increasingly used for
distributing child sex abuse images. There are a number of problems to
be tackled: it is necessary to identify, rescue and support the victims, take
action against the perpetrators and curb down the continued circulation of
images by detecting and removing child sexual abuse images from the internet and
prevent their re-uploading.

2.4.1.     Faster and systematic
identification of child sexual abuse material disseminated through various
online channels, notification and takedown of this material

The
visibility of current reporting points (hotlines) where
citizens can report illegal content needs to be increased, including linking to
any EU-wide reporting mechanisms and measures for reporting cyber-crime that
may be developed in the future. The systematic detection, takedown and
prevention of the re-uploading of child sexual abuse images need to be
improved.

Actions
in this area must comply with the new Directive on combating child sexual abuse
and pornography[50],
the E-commerce directive[51]
as well as with the data protection legislation in force and the Charter of
Fundamental Rights of the EU.

The Commission will

·
support cooperation between industry, law
enforcement and hotlines to improve the process and shorten the time span for
taking down child sex abuse images, coordinate the sharing of tools and
resources and continue to support the INHOPE network of hotlines to facilitate
that the public can report illegal content, to follow up with appropriate
action continuing to reduce delays for take down, and to explore ways of
increasing their public visibility.

·
support R&D into and the deployment of
innovative technical solutions for police investigations, namely for more
efficient identification and matching of child sexual abuse material
disseminated through different channels on the internet, and for removing and preventing
the re-uploading of child sexual abuse images

·
support training for law enforcement.

·
adopt a horizontal initiative on notice and
action procedures. It will address in particular barriers to effective notice
and takedown mechanism for all categories of illegal content, including child
sexual abuse images.[52]

Member States should

·
increase the resources of law enforcement bodies
that fight against child abuse material online.

·
ensure, in line with the Directive on combating
child sexual abuse that effective investigative tools are available to enhance
the investigator's capacities to identify child victims, guaranteeing that
effective safeguards are in place to ensure democratic accountability in the
use of such tools.

·
match the support for the functioning and
visibility of hotlines at national level where the public can report illegal content
found online.

·
support the improvement of cooperation between
hotlines and industry for taking down child abuse material.

Industry

·
will be encouraged to take steps, including
proactive measures, to remove child sex abuse material from the internet.

·
should reinforce cooperation with law
enforcement bodies and hotlines to refine notice and takedown procedures and to
establish benchmarks.

·
will be encouraged to develop and use tools to
increase the effectiveness of the identification of child sex abuse images, notice
and takedown procedures, and the prevention of re-uploading.

2.4.2.     Cooperating with
international partners to fight against child sexual abuse and child sexual
exploitation

As
the internet knows no borders, international cooperation is essential. There is
a need for a global approach to address the issues on a more coordinated and
sustainable basis. Child sexual abuse material may be viewed and reported in
one country while hosted in a third country but having been uploaded from yet
another country: more than half the child abuse material reported to the
Internet Watch Foundation in 2011 was identified as held outside Europe.[53] The same report notes that the
methods of distribution and ways in which the materials are accessed are
continuing to shift as technologies change: this requires the hotlines to
continue to develop their strategies and tools so that they can collectively identify
and combat the presence of child abuse material in its changing online contexts.

The Commission will

·
encourage the INHOPE network of hotlines to
increase its global membership which currently includes countries such as
Russia, Japan, US, South Africa, Australia or South Korea.

·
support the implementation of the Council of
Europe Convention on Cybercrime and the promotion of its principles through
ensuring technical and legal protection measures.

·
work with international partners through
structures such as the EU-US Working Group on Cyber-Security and Cyber-Crime,
which sets out common priorities in the area, including cooperation for
removing child pornography from the internet and for enhancing child online
empowerment.

·
co-organize an EU-US conference in autumn 2012.

·
try to reach out to other regions of the world
and support cooperation on a global level.

Member States are invited to

·
support the Commission in its efforts to boost
cooperation with international partners

Industry is
invited to

·
exchange best practice in this field and
cooperate with partners all over the world

3.           Conclusions

While
the Internet, the devices used to access it and the services available today
were not created specifically for use by children, research shows that they are
increasingly prominent users. Children therefore form a specific group
requiring attention: the way children behave today online will help define
tomorrow’s digital world. A joined-up European effort in this field will
support the development of interoperable and sustainable infrastructures to
deliver a better internet for children, and will boost growth and innovation. Scaling
up awareness raising, digital skills and media literacy for children will improve
their jobs perspectives and employability and help them become confident
digital citizens. Stimulating the potential of interactive content for children
will contribute to a vibrant European digital single market. Ongoing effective
industry self-regulation for the protection and empowerment of young people,
with the appropriate benchmarks and independent monitoring systems in place, is
needed to build trust in a sustainable and accountable governance model that
could bring more flexible, timely and market-appropriate solutions than any
regulatory initiatives. At the same time, the Commission will continue to
provide support for placing topics about child online safety on the agenda of
events such as the Internet Governance Forum and to share best practices with
other international organisations active in this area. It will continue to
encourage EU-funded projects to work with international partners, and will continue
to organise the Safer Internet Forum international conference, which has been
bringing together stakeholders from all over the world to discuss child online
safety since 2004.

Member
State authorities, industry and other relevant stakeholders are invited to endorse
the proposed strategy and to take steps to ensure its successful
implementation, through cooperation with all other interested groups.

The
Commission will put in place a benchmarking of child online safety policies and
actions across Europe, including an analysis of the resources used and their
breakdown between the Commission, the Member States, the private and the
voluntary sectors. It will also monitor closely the implementation of the
current self-regulatory agreements signed by industry.

Overview of actions

Action || Main actors || Timescale

Pillar 1 — High-quality content online for children and young people

Stimulating the production of creative and educational online content for children || Commission, with support from Member States and industry || Continuously from 2012

Promoting positive online experiences for young children || Commission, with support from Member States and industry || Continuously from 2012

Pillar 2 — Stepping up awareness and empowerment

Digital and media literacy and teaching online safety in schools || Member States, with support from Commission and industry || By 2013

Scaling up awareness activities and youth participation || Commission, with support from Member States and industry || Continuously from 2012

Simple and robust reporting tools for users || Industry, with support from Commission and Member States || First results by end 2012. Full implementation within 18 months

Pillar 3 — Creating a safe environment for children online

Age-appropriate privacy settings || Industry, with support from Commission and Member States || First results by end 2012. Full implementation within 18 months

Wider availability and use of parental controls || Industry, with support from Commission and Member States || First results by end 2012. Full implementation within 18 months

Wider use of age rating and content classification || Industry, with support from Commission and Member States || First results by end 2012. Fully fledged proposals within 18 months

Online advertising and overspending || Industry, with support from Commission and Member States || Continuously from 2012

Pillar 4 — Fighting against child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation

Faster and systematic identification of child sexual abuse material disseminated through various online channels, notification and takedown of this material || Commission, with support from Member States and industry || Continuously from 2012, with first results by end 2012

Cooperating with international partners to fight against child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation || Commission, with support from Member States and industry || Continuously from 2012

[1]               COM(2011) 60 final.

[2]               In this context the term children refers to every
human being below the age of 18 years as defined in the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child..

[3]               COM(2010) 245 final/2.

[4]               Key priorities of the EU e-Skills strategy
"e-Skills for the 21st century" COM(2007)496.

[5]               Flash Eurobarometer 2008.

[6]               Source: Livingstone, S., Haddon, L., Görzig, A.,
& Ólafsson, K: Risks and safety on the internet: The perspective of
European children. Full findings. (2011), produced under the EUKidsOnline II
project.

[7]               As set out in the EU Agenda for the rights of the
child - (COM (2011) 60 final - that includes general principles to ensure that
EU actions are exemplary in ensuring the respect of the Charter for fundamental
rights and of the UN Convention on the rights of the child. As part of the EU
Agenda for the Rights of the Child, the Commission set up the Kids' Corner
online (http://europa.eu/kids-corner/)
and launched the European website on the rights of the
child (http://ec.europa.eu/0-18/)

[8]               http://www.tavess.com/DigitalContentDelivery_June11.php
retrieved on 20.03.2012. All figures expressed in dollars were converted into
euros on 20.03.2012

[9]               The Economist, online edition, retrieved on
20.03.2012. All figures expressed in dollars were converted into euros on 20.03.2012
http://www.economist.com/node/21541164?frsc=dg%7Cb

[10]             Protecting Children in the Digital World COM (2011) 556
final.

[11]             Code of Practice on Parental controls signed by BT,
Talk Talk, Virgin Media and Sky
http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumer/assets/downloads/BT_TalkTalk_Sky_Virgin_Code_of_Practice_28_Oct.pdf

[12]             This means that customers are asked at the point of
purchase whether they want to have parental controls and offer them free of
charge

[13]             http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/inthenews/a0077662/bailey-review-of-the-commercialisation-and-sexualisation-of-childhood-final-report-published

[14]             The Commission funds the SIP Bench study that does an expert assessment of products, tools and services that allow users
to control children's access to inappropriate content online.

[15]             See footnote 6

[16]             A pan-European competition for quality content online
for children was run by the Commission together with Safer Internet Centres in
Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy,
Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain in 2011. The
competition had two strands: adult-made content and content made by teenagers
for younger children. The content submitted in the "adult-made
content" was very uneven across the participating countries, ranging from
3 providers in Portugal, 6 in Italy and 7 in Slovenia to 84 in Poland, 92 in
Germany, and 200 in the Netherlands.

[17]             Source: Livingstone, S., & Haddon, L.: EU Kids
Online Final Report (2009), produced under the EUKidsOnline I project.

[18]             Source: O'Neill, B., Livingstone, S., & McLaughlin,
S: ‘Final recommendations for policy, methodology and research’ (2011),
produced under the EUKidsOnline II project.

[19]             Commonly known as ‘happy slapping’.

[20]             Commonly known as ‘sexting’.

[21]             OECD (2011) ‘The protection of children online: Risks
faced by children online and policies to protect them’, OECD Digital Economy
Papers, No 179, OECD Publishing.

[22]             See Europol Organised Crime Threat Assessment report
2011 and the Council of Europe study on the Misuse of the Internet for the
recruitment of victims of trafficking in human beings, 2007.

[23]             E-skills fact sheet: http://eskills-week.ec.europa.eu/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=6f0a6d8e-49e7-42ac-8f2b-f5adba460afc&groupId=10136

[24]             Source: Livingstone, S., Ólafsson, K. & Staksrud,
E.: Social Networking, Age and Privacy (2011), produced under the EUKidsOnline
II project.

[25]             See footnote 6

[26]             Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 10.03.2010 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down
by law, regulation or administrative action in the Member States concerning the
provision of audiovisual media Services (Audiovisual Media Services Directive);
Council Recommendation 98/560/EC of 24 September 1998 on the
development of the competitiveness of the European audiovisual and information
services industry by promoting national frameworks aimed at achieving a
comparable and effective level of protection of minors and human dignity;
Recommendation 2006/952/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of
20 December 2006 on the protection of minors and human dignity and on
the right of reply in relation to the competitiveness of the European
audiovisual and on-line information services industry.

[27]             The "European Framework for the Safer Use of
Mobile Phones by Younger Teenagers and Children", signed by mobile
operators, illustrates their commitment to provide access control mechanisms,
to raise awareness and promote education, to implement the classification of
commercial content and to tackle illegal content on mobile community products
or on the internet; the "Safer Social Networking Principles for the EU",
signed by social networking service providers, commits them to raising awareness
of safety education messages, ensuring age-appropriate services, empowering
users through tools and technology, providing easy-to-use reporting mechanisms,
responding to notifications of illegal content or conduct, enabling and
encouraging a safe approach to personal information and privacy, and assessing
means for reviewing illegal or prohibited content/conduct; "PEGI" is
a pan-European agreement for age rating computer and video games, covering 30 European
countries.

[28]             Self-regulation will initially build on the ‘Coalition
to make the internet a better place for kids’ brokered by the Commission and
that has the support of major companies active in Europe across all industry
sectors, who have committed to work towards implementing five concrete actions
by December 2012.

[29]             Decision No 1351/2008/EC of the European Parliament and
Council of 16.12.2008 establishing a multiannual Community programme on
protecting children using the Internet and other communication technologies

[30]             Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) set up under the
Multiannual Financial Framework — A Budget for Europe 2020, COM(2011) 500,
parts I and II; Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the
Council establishing the Connecting Europe Facility, COM(2011) 665 — , without prejudice
to the final decision and the final amounts on the proposals for CEF and the EU
multi-annual financial framework, taking into consideration the wider political
context of the Europe 2020 strategy

[31]             The EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation,
without prejudice to the final decision and the final amounts on the proposal
for Horizon 2020 and the EU multi-annual financial framework, taking into
consideration the wider political context of the Europe 2020 strategy

[32]             In this context, the term refers to a verified list of
websites that provide high-quality content online for young people. The lists
would be established and maintained by specialists in the field (public and/or
private) in response to site suggestions from users or direct applications from
companies to be listed, e.g. the German initiative fragfinn.

[33]             An inventory of guidelines for producing and providing
online content for children and young people was produced in 2010 under the
Safer Internet Programme

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/sip/docs/competition/final_draft.pdf

[34]             The Commission has set out a European approach to media
literacy in the digital environment in its Communication from the EC to the
European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee
and the Committee of the Regions – A European approach to media literacy in the
digital environment, COM(2007) 833 and Commission recommendation of 20.08.2009
on media literacy in the digital environment for a more competitive audiovisual
and content industry and an inclusive knowledge society C(2009) 6464.

[35]             http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/documents/thematic_reports/121EN.pdf.

[36]             Such as www.teachtoday.eu.

[37]             Building also on existing efforts such as the European
e-Skills week

[38]             Subject to the adoption of necessary legislation

[39]             COM(2009) 200 final and Council
Resolution of 27 November 2009 on a renewed framework for European cooperation
in the Youth field (2010 -2018)

[40]             Grooming refers to actions deliberately undertaken with
the aim of befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a child,
in preparation for sexual activity with the child or exploitation

[41]             COM(2012) 140 final

[42]             Commission Decision 2007/116/EC of 15.02.2007 on
reserving the national numbering range beginning with 116 for harmonised
numbers for harmonised services of social value; Directive 2002/22/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 07.03.2002 on universal service and
users' rights relating to electronic communications networks and services ( Universal
Service Directive).

[43]             Implementation of measures concerning privacy and data
protection will need to be in line with the relevant European legislation,
including the outcomes of the revision of the ongoing revision of the current
Data Protection Directive. Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to
the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. The
Commission put forward a proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament
and of the Council on the protection of individuals with regard to processing
of personal data and on the free movement of such data COM (2012) 11 final.

[44]             See footnote 5.

[45]             See footnote 6.

[46]             The Dutch ‘My Child online’ foundation released the ‘Pas
op je Portemonnee’ report in 2011, which claims that there are an increasing
number of complaints about money children spend in virtual worlds. The UK ‘Briefing
on the internet, e-commerce, children and young people’ gives an overview of
issues related to children and e-commerce.

[47]             As indicated in the AVMS

[48]             Including the Data Protection and ePrivacy Directives
currently in force. Advertising and commercial practices targeting children
should comply with the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC of the
European Parliament and Council.

[49]             http://www.easa-alliance.org/page.aspx/386.

[50]             Directive 2011/93/EU of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 13.12.2011 on combating sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of
children and child pornography criminalises child pornography offences, child
grooming, webcam sexual abuse, or web viewing child pornography without
downloading files.

[51]             Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of
the Council of 8.06.2000 on certain legal aspects of information society
services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (‘Directive
on electronic commerce’) which provides the basis for notice and takedown
procedures.

[52]             Announced in the Communication on a coherent framework
for building trust in the Digital Single Market for e-commerce and online
services COM (2011) 942.

[53]             Internet Watch Foundation (the UK hotline): Annual and Charity
Report 2011.