Better Internet for Kids

Here, we take an in-depth look at the latest monitoring information for Austria.

In Austria, there are a number of information platforms (e.g., Onlinesicherheit.at, Jugendportal.at, Digital Austria) and registration and advice centres (e.g., Stopline, ZARA, Rat auf Draht, Kija.at) to provide children with access to education, information and advice in the digital space. Basic digital education has also been introduced as a school subject. Discrimination against children is to be curbed through a package of laws against online hate speech. Cybermobbing (cyberbullying) is already a criminal offence in its own right. Protection against sexual abuse is to be provided by a reform of the law in relation to the sharing of explicit images, including non-consensual sharing or so-called revenge porn.

BIK policies

Policy design asks whether evidence and research support BIK-related policies and whether systems are in place for monitoring and evaluating those policies.

Policy frameworks

Policy frameworks describe the overarching approach for a better internet and establish the underlying goals, principles and guidelines that shape individual policies within this area. 

In Austria: 

• This topic is an important and emerging policy priority, with children’s online protection, digital empowerment, and digital participation partially covered in national/regional laws, regulations and policies.
• BIK+ is covered by broader policies rather than in separate dedicated policies and/or covers only one or two of the dimensions of protection, empowerment and participation.
• The BIK+ strategy informs national policies but is not the main influence.

• National/regional policies and policy documents do not refer to children's rights in the digital environment.

Read the full Policy monitor country profile for detailed information on key national policy frameworks in Austria.

Read the full 2025 edition of the Policy monitor report.

Policy design

Policy design asks whether evidence and research support BIK-related policies and whether systems are in place for monitoring and evaluating those policies.

• Quantitative data on some aspects of children’s digital activity is collected regularly as part of broader surveys.
• Some but not all aspects of children’s experiences of risks, harms and digital well-being are included in regular surveys.
• Systems are in place at the government level to gather information on children and the digital environment.
• Regarding funding for research, there are occasional special initiatives to gather evidence about children and the digital environment.
• Policies are monitored and evaluated, but not systematically.   

Read the full Policy monitor country profile for detailed information on recent national research studies in Austria.

Read the full 2025 edition of the Policy monitor report.

Policy governance

Policy governance examines how policies are coordinated at the governmental level, whether other implementation bodies are involved in their delivery, and whether structured mechanisms are available to guide their implementation. 

• The lead ministry, public agency or regulatory authority is an informal arrangement depending on the requirements at a particular point in time. The Federal Chancellery, general directorate Family and Youth leads in this regard.
• Coordination happens more informally across the different departments and entities that contribute to government policies, with Austria’s Safer Internet Advisory Board playing a key role.
• Government policy has yet to be developed into an implementable action plan at this point.

Read the full Policy monitor country profile for detailed information on key policy governance mechanisms in Austria.

Read the full 2025 edition of the Policy monitor report.

Stakeholder involvement

Stakeholder involvement enquires how different stakeholders can participate in policy development. Children’s involvement in policy-making is one such key issue. Additionally, international knowledge exchange about children's digital participation is also relevant to this topic.

• There is a designated multi-stakeholder forum in place which facilitates the involvement of all relevant stakeholders. The Digital Skills Office is a national agency for education and internationalisation within Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalisation (OeAD) as part of the ‘Digital Competence Offensive for Austria’. It provides information and tips on dealing competently with risks and using the positive aspects of the internet, mobile phones and computers.
• Public consultation is infrequent and irregular.
• Children and young people are listened to directly in the policy development process (e.g., through hearings, consultations, specific surveys) but are not formally involved in decision-making. The Austrian Youth Strategy ‘Reality Check’ is an important initiative in this area, as is the Austrian Federal Youth Council. 

BIK+ actions

Pillar 1 – safe digital experiences

Safe digital experiences refer to actions taken to protect children from harmful and illegal online content, conduct, contact, and risks as young consumers and to improve their well-being online through a safe, age-appropriate digital environment created in a way that respects children’s best interests.

Implementing EU laws

• Although there is no code of conduct, the Austrian implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services Act (based on Art28b of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD)) regulates prohibited and harmful content for video-sharing platform providers in Section 9b.
• The law accompanying the Digital Services Act (DSA) (Austrian implementation: DSA-Begleitgesetz) was published in the Official Gazette on 30 December 2023 and entered into force on 17 February 2024. 

Harmful online content

• In addition to the Austrian implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services Act (AMD-G), regional youth protection laws try to protect children and young people from unsuitable media content, though online content is not explicitly mentioned.
• Initiatives such as the Austrian Safer Internet Centre or Onlinesicherheit.gv.at provide parents, educators, children and young people with important information and assistance in dealing with harmful internet content.
• Children and young people can contact the Children and Youth Ombuds-Offices regarding every matter of concern, including harmful online content. There are ten Children and Youth Ombuds-Offices in Austria – one in each of the nine federal states in Austria and one at the federal level.

Harmful online conduct

• Non-consensual sharing of intimate images is covered under various laws, such as protecting privacy under the General Civil Code (ABGB), the Austrian Criminal Code, and Hate Speech Laws.
• Laws to protect children and young people from cyberbullying include the Hate Speech on the Internet Act (HiNBG), which was amended by renaming the offence to "persistent harassment using a telecommunication or computer system" (instead of "continued").

Age verification

• The Austrian Audiovisual Media Services Act(AMD-G), which regulates video-sharing platforms, requires that the platform provider must ensure that harmful content is restricted, for example, through the use of parental control systems. This means such content should not typically be accessible to minors. Additionally, users should be able to evaluate this content through a user-friendly and easily understandable function. In any case, content that includes gratuitous violence or predominantly represents sexual acts without reflection (§ 39, paragraph 3) must be subject to effective access control through age verification.
• Persons over the age of 14 can apply for an ID Austria. There is also the digital proof of age and the digital school ID card.

Commercial content

• Influencer-based marketing is subject to legal framework conditions in Austria when advertising products and brands. These include the Media Act (MedienG), the Austrian implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services Act (AMD-G), and the Federal Act against Unfair Competition (UWG). The Austrian advertising industry also has a voluntary Code of Ethics, which sets out fair advertising principles.

Mental health and well-being

• Mental health days and other workshops in the region are in place to support children’s mental health and well-being while online.

Pillar 2 – digital empowerment

Digital empowerment incorporates actions so that all children, including those in vulnerable situations, acquire the necessary skills and competences to make sound choices and express themselves in the online environment safely and responsibly.

Supports for online safety education

• Online safety is fully incorporated into the national school curriculum. It is an integral part of the curriculum in the primary school system. Digital Basic Education is also a compulsory subject in the middle and secondary school system.
• E-Education Austria and Saferinternet.at provide support for online safety policies in schools.
• Teacher education supports are included in the 8-Point Plan to advance digitalisation in the school system.
• There are also various activities to reinforce informal education about online safety including at Onlinesicherheit.at. The ‘Digital Skills for All’ initiative was launched in 2023 to promote safe internet use to all target groups who do not attend formal learning venues. The Austrian SIC (saferinternet.at) offers a range of workshops for various target groups outside formal education.

Digital literacy skills to empower young people 

• The Austrian Strategy for Cyber Security (ÖSCS) is the strategic framework for increasing Austria's digital resilience and ensuring cyber security in the digital world. It supports the basic requirements for creating secure and value-adding digitalisation.
• The Ministry of Finance promotes the training and development of digital skills through the Austrian Youth Strategy and the Digital Skills Initiative.
• The violence prevention program Click & Check is concerned with promoting responsible use of digital media. Particular attention is paid to developing action strategies and promoting legal certainty in the daily use of the internet, particularly in the area of social media.
• Cyber Kids is a computer course for children, parents, and educators focused on digital literacy for 8-to-10 and 10-to-12-year-olds.
• ZARA: Digitale Zivilcourage offers various activities that encourage bystanders to challenge online hate speech and to develop digital 'civil courage' (e.g., speaking up against a victim's bullies, perpetrators, or harassers).

Pillar 3 – active participation, respecting children’s rights

Active participation, respecting children’s rights, refers to actions which give children and young people a say in the digital environment, with more child-led activities to foster innovative and creative safe digital experiences.

Active participation

• The Federal Youth Council acts as the legally anchored representation of the interests of all children and young people. The Federal Youth Representation Act regulates its tasks, the implementation of which is the responsibility of the Federal Chancellery. Young people can actively participate in European youth policy through the EU Youth Dialogue.
• The ‘Digital Pioneers’ programme aims at promoting (new) jobs for young women in the digital environment and the ‘Students contest in AI’ nourishes the interest of young people in the field of artificial intelligence and science, such as mathematics, physics and computer science and the program ‘Science Flash’.
• Youth councils (Landesjugendbeiräte, Jugendgemeinderäte) are also available among the regional and local-level youth parliaments.

Supporting children’s rights 

• Activities to promote awareness of children’s rights include activities of the Austrian Federal Chancellery, which provides funding to projects that promote better awareness of children’s rights online. The UNICEF initiative Denk Dir Die Welt – Kreativwettbewerb 2023 also promotes awareness of children’s rights in the digital environment.
• The Austrian Ombuds Offices for Children and Youth (Kija.at) are currently developing a digital youth rights charter.
• While there isn’t a government system in place to publish child-friendly versions of policy documents, plain language online safety guides are available at Osterreich.gv.at.

Digital inclusion

• Various government initiatives exist to ensure inclusiveness regarding children's active participation, e.g., the City of Vienna's child and youth work will focus on inclusion in 2024 and 2025. A dedicated child and youth portal is in place.
• The Federal Youth Representation has initiated an Inclusion Advisory Board.
• OeAD, Austria's agency for education and internationalisation, also adopted inclusion and diversity as among the key priorities that Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps will address in the new programming period 2021-2027.

BIK+ index 2025: Austria

The BIK+ index has been developed to provide an aggregated at-a-glance overview of the levels of implementation across the two dimensions, BIK policies and BIK+ actions, in Austria compared to the EU27+2 average. Values are shown in per cent.

Please note, the data used in this page and the corresponding country profile was collected in February 2025.