Better Internet for Kids

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

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 the Czech Republic:

• 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.
• There are separate, dedicated policies which address the topic of children and the digital environment (protection, empowerment, and participation).
• The BIK / BIK+ strategy is not explicitly referred to in national policies but has informed policy development on children and the digital environment.
• Children's rights in the digital environment are not explicitly recognised in national policy documents but receive implicit support in policies dealing with children's digital activity.

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

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.
• Information is regularly gathered to inform policies on children and the digital environment. However, this relies primarily on third-party sources, and there are limited opportunities to commission new data on children’s digital activity.
• However, little or no dedicated funding is available for research on children and the digital environment.
• Policies are monitored and evaluated but not systematically. It depends on the needs at a particular time or when policies are being considered.

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

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.

• Policy development sits across a range of ministries, and no lead is specifically assigned responsibility for developing government policies, guidelines, and programmes related to children and the digital environment.
• Coordination happens more informally across the different departments and entities contributing to government policies, guidelines, and programmes regarding children and the digital environment.
• Several ministries and agencies undertake supportive measures and activities; however, there is no cross-governmental action plan on children and the digital environment.

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

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.

• Various ad hoc multistakeholder groups exist across different branches of government, in which stakeholders may contribute to policy deliberation and development.
• Members of the public are consulted on occasion in the course of the development of new policies. However, this is not always the case.
• Children are listened to directly in the policy development process (e.g., through hearings, consultations, specific surveys) but are not formally involved in decision-making.
• There are occasional opportunities for policymakers to participate in international knowledge exchange on digital policies for children. 

Read the full Policy monitor country profile for detailed information on crucial stakeholder involvement mechanisms in the Czech Republic.

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. 

Responses to EU laws

• The finalisation of the law implementing the Digital Services Act (DSA) is currently underway. The Czech Telecommunications Office has been designated as the Digital Services Coordinator in the Czech Republic, and the Office for Personal Data Protection will be designated as the competent authority for articles 26 and 28 of the Digital Services Act. No competent authority will be designated specifically for children’s online safety.

Addressing harmful online content

• There is no explicit legal definition of harmful online content in national legislation. Specific examples including hard pornography, animal pornography or child pornography are illegal and fulfil the elements of offences under Sections 191 and 192 of the Criminal Code. However, harmful content may also include videos shared with the potential to incite minors to self-harm.
• The Safer Internet Centre operates a “STOP online” line where harmful/addictive content can be reported and which is further acted on by the Czech police.

Addressing harmful online conduct

• Laws to protect children and young people from intimate image abuse, sometimes called 'revenge porn' or 'the non-consensual sharing of intimate images' are covered under the Criminal Code.
• Regarding cyberbullying, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports has issued methodological recommendations for prevention.

Age verification and digital identity systems

• There are currently no specific national/regional laws, technical standards or policies regarding age verification mechanisms to restrict minors from accessing adult online content services. This is under consideration, however.
• Regarding codes of conduct for commercial content, a self-regulatory body, the Platform of Professional Communication, has published an Influencers’ Code of Conduct.

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 in formal education

• One of the central measures since 2022 has been the implementation of a new curriculum in primary and secondary education, with new classes focusing on digital skills development and ICT. This comprehensive plan is backed by various measures, including RRF funding for purchasing digital equipment and teaching aids for schools, with a particular focus on supporting disadvantaged students to ensure an inclusive digital transition. Stakeholders and scientists also give courses to introduce AI in schools, focusing on preventing its misuse. The topic of healthy and secure use of technologies and internet is emphasised in the revised curriculum. Source: State of the Digital Decade 2024 Czechia.
• Innovations in education in the context of digitalisation are implemented through the National Recovery Plan, which is implemented by the National Pedagogical Institute of the Czech Republic. It includes training in online communication and cooperation (development of digital competences and a new concept of the educational field of informatics).
• The National Recovery Plan includes activities to train teachers in this area. The National Pedagogical Institute of the Czech Republic has different projects, such as teacher training, webinars for educators, platforms for exchanging experiences between schools, and consultancy activities. The Institute also creates educational podcasts called kybcast.

Informal education

• In 2022, Czechia’s police launched an educational prevention initiative called ‘Your Journey Online.’ The first part focuses on educating children and young individuals on how to present themselves on social media and underlines the importance of securing their devices and personal accounts. The second part of the programme concentrates on navigating online information, stressing the need for fact-checking, especially amid widespread misinformation, and being aware of common cyber fraud tactics. Source: State of the Digital Decade 2024 Czechia.
• A key stakeholder in this field is the CZ.NIC Association, which, in cooperation with other organisations, operates the national Safer Internet Centre.
• The "First Mobile" guide is for parents who are about to get their children their first smartphone. It has been prepared by the Safer Internet Centre in cooperation with the Police of the Czech Republic, the O2 Foundation and mobile operators Vodafone and T-Mobile. The guide contains a number of recommendations on how to set up a smartphone correctly and introduces the most common risks children can face when using it.

Empowering through digital skills

• In 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade launched the Mobile Technology Classroom project, aiming to spark students’ interests in new technologies and technical areas. A converted truck goes around the country and serves as a mobile classroom where eighth and ninth graders can learn about new technologies, gaining practical knowledge, skills and competencies. Students can try 3D printing and augmented and virtual reality and receive career counselling. Source: State of the Digital Decade 2024 Czechia.
• The Czech Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition ́s (Digikoalice) project has an online catalogue that provides children with a wide range of educational activities. Currently, more than 140 activities and courses created by different entities and organisations are easily accessible to children, their parents, and their teachers.
• The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports cooperates with National Cyber and Information Security Agency on educational projects and activities for young people in related fields.
• Media education is part of the Comprehensive Education Programme and a cross-cutting area. The complex revision currently underway plans to emphasise and develop this topic.

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

• In the Committee for Digital Education under the Government Council for Information Society under the Digital Czechia Strategy, the Czech Children and Youth Parliament represent the voices of children. They are encouraged to contribute to debate and discuss the policies in the field of digital education.
• There are no laws, regulations or policies in place that mandate youth participation in decision-making bodies at the national or regional level.
• There are limited activities to promote awareness of children’s rights such as the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) Amendment to the Act on Social and Legal Protection of Children, Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Inclusivity

• In 2022, MoLSA continued participating in the Council of Europe's Participation of Children in Europe project, Strengthening National Frameworks and Activities for Child Participation. The project aimed to assess the level of child participation in the Czech Republic using the Council of Europe's Child Participation Indicator Toolkit and the new Child Participation in National Activities methodology.
• The Ombudsman's Office, as part of its Strengthening the Ombudsman's Activities in the Protection of Human Rights project, held its first Children's Conference in June and published the Convention on the Rights of the Child in a child-friendly text.

Digital creativity

• There is a regional activity to stimulate the production and visibility of positive digital content and services for children and parents called Regions for Safer Internet. Non-governmental actors as Czech Safer Internet Centre are also active in that area and have many supportive digital materials related to that topic.
• The National Recovery Plan - Innovation in Education in the Context of Digitalisation also contains a funding programme focused on implementation of digital tools and support for schools to use digital tools and develop digital creativity and the use of digital technologies by children.
• Since the Czech Republic's Presidency of the Council of the EU, a project called Czech Digital Week has been established to promote digitalisation and bring together stakeholders in the Czech Republic's digitalisation field. 

Read the full Policy monitor country profile for some best practice examples from the Czech Republic.

BIK+ index 2024: Czech Republic

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 the Czech Republic 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 2024.