Better Internet for Kids

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

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 Italy:

• This topic is comprehensively addressed with children’s online protection, digital empowerment and digital participationincorporated into national/regional laws, regulations and policies.
• There are separate, dedicated policies that address 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
• National/regional policies and policy documents explicitly recognise children's rights in the digital environment. 

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

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.

• There is a regular (e.g., annual or bi-annual) nationally representative survey specifically focused on children’s digital activity which informs national policies on this topic.
• Systems are in place at the government level to gather information on children and the digital environment (e.g., dedicated research units, think tanks or commissions).
• Existing national research funding is available for research on children and the digital environment but this is not explicitly specified.
• Policies undergo systematic and regular monitoring and evaluation to assess the effectiveness of actions in different contexts and to take account of new technologies or emergent risks.

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

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.

• There is one central body (e.g., central ministry office, public agency or regulatory authority) that is formally mandated to lead and develop policies, guidelines and programmes relating to children and the digital environment, if necessary, in consultation with other departments.
• A clearly defined coordination function is in place, involving all relevant stakeholders and encompasses the cross-cutting policy issues relating to children and the digital environment.
• There is a defined national action plan for children and the digital environment with accountabilities such as defined timelines, assigned responsibilities, or key performance indicators (KPIs).

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

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 stakeholder groups.
• Members of the public are regularly and routinely consulted as part of the policy development process.
• Children are actively involved in the design of policies related to their participation in the digital environment. There are specially designed structures in place for this purpose.
• Policymakers actively participate in various EU-level and other international inter-governmental groups related to the topic.

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

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

• Article 15 of Decree-Law No. 123 of 2023 designated the Communications Regulatory Authority (Agcom) as the Digital Services Coordinator. The Communications Regulatory Authority and the European Commission have signed a collaboration agreement to apply the rules of the Digital Services Act (DSA) regulation.
• The Ministry of Education, as coordinator of the Italian SIC, plans to spread the DSA among children and Young people during the 2024 - 2025 project.
• The Communications Authority has recently adopted guidelines that define a set of rules aimed at influencers. The provisions concern, in particular, measures regarding commercial communications, protection of fundamental rights of the person, of minors and the values of sport, providing a mechanism of reminders and orders aimed at removal or adaptation of contents. In the case of content with product placement, influencers are required to include writing that highlights the advertising nature of the content in a readily and immediately recognisable way.

Addressing harmful online content

• Article 2 of Law 71/2017 gives the Privacy Authority the power to issue orders for the removal of online content that falls within the definition of cyberbullying. Moreover, the Postal Police has the power to remove content which is potentially harmful to children.

Addressing harmful online conduct

• Art. 1 of Law 71/2017 defines cyberbullying as any form of pressure, aggression, harassment, extortion, insult, denigration, defamation, identity theft, alteration, illegal acquisition, manipulation, illegal processing of personal data to the detriment of minors, as well as the dissemination of online content, including to one or more members of the minor's family, the intentional and predominant purpose of which is to isolate a minor or a group of minors by means of serious abuse, harmful attacks or ridicule. Moreover, the Italian penal code provides for specific criminal offences concerning revenge porn and child pornography.
• Art. 2 of Law 71/2017 grants each child as well as each parent or person exercising responsibility for the child who has been bullied, the possibility of making a request to the data controller or the operator of the website or social media for the blocking, removal or blocking of any other personal data of the child, disseminated on the internet.
• The Italian penal code provides for specific offences in the area of revenge porn and non-consensual sharing of intimate images. Article 612-bis of the Penal Code specifically addresses the dissemination of private images without consent, outlining penalties for those who distribute, disclose, or make available to others images or videos portraying the sexual or intimate acts of others without authorisation. This provision applies regardless of the victim's age and aims to protect individuals from the harmful consequences of the actions.
• Article 144-bis of the Italian Privacy Code stipulates that anyone, including minors, who has reasonable grounds to believe that audio, image or video recordings or other computer documents with sexually explicit content concerning them, which are intended to remain private, may be sent, delivered, transmitted, published or disseminated through digital platforms without their consent, has the right to report the risk to the Data Protection Authority, which shall take action within 48 hours of receiving the report 

Age verification and digital identity systems

• The Privacy Authority and the Communications Authority have set up a joint table to promote a code of conduct that would lead digital platforms to adopt systems for verifying the age of young users accessing online services.
• Digital identity systems are available for minors in Italy. The Guidelines provide different rules and services for minors over 14 and for those between five and 13.

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

• The National Plan for the Digital School (PNSD) puts the acquisition and enhancement of students' digital skills at the centre of improvement actions, making digital technology a fundamental teaching tool for enhancing students' curriculum. Many schools have taken steps to promote the acquisition of digital skills by experimenting with and implementing Digital Curricula in formal educational institutions, encouraging participatory planning experiences to create, test and make available to all schools new innovative, structured, open educational curricula capable of putting the student at the centre and involving the wider school community.
• The Communications Authority has recently adopted guidelines that define a set of rules aimed at influencers. The provisions concern, in particular, measures regarding commercial communications, protection of fundamental rights of the person, of minors, and the values of sport, and providing a mechanism of reminders and orders aimed at removal or adaptation of content. In the case of content with product placement, influencers must include writing that highlights the advertising nature of the content in a readily and immediately recognisable way.
• The National Plan for the Digital School (PNSD) puts the acquisition and enhancement of students' digital skills at the centre of improvement actions, making digital technology a fundamental teaching tool for enhancing students' curriculum. Many schools have taken steps to promote the acquisition of digital skills by experimenting with and implementing Digital Curricula in formal educational institutions, encouraging participatory planning experiences to create, test and make available to all schools new innovative, structured, open educational curricula capable of putting the student at the centre and involving the wider school community.
• The Ministry of Education has issued guidelines for a) preventing and combating cyberbullying and b) for the positive use of technology at school.
• Italy has rules and guidelines about developing teachers’ digital competencies as part of their pre-service training for all education levels. The ministry also recently introduced rules to mandate in-service training on digital education from the 2023-24 school year by creating a new integrated platform, Futura, to deliver online training to school staff on digital teaching topics and schools' digital transformation. The Futura platform complements the S.O.F.I.A platform that teachers can use to find and access online professional development courses on a range of topics from various (government-approved) providers.

Informal education

• The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Communications Police, is conducting an informal educational campaign throughout the country about the positive use of technologies and risks. The campaign is named Vita da Social, and it is implemented with a truck equipped with laptops, an internet connection, and other instruments.
• The Ministry of Education, as coordinator of the Italian SIC, has also developed peer-to-peer training courses for target groups. Those pathways include peer-to-peer training for parents, teachers and youth.

Empowering through digital skills

• The National Plan for the Digital School (PNSD) provides specific digital education and media literacy curricula. Children and young people from diversified demographic groups are involved in a youth platform. The panellists - 40 boys and girls - are selected voluntarily. The panellists are involved in the SIC activities and encouraged to express their views, contribute to the ‘Action' activities, and strengthen their knowledge and experience in using online technologies. Some panellists are trained and assisted in working as journalists to produce their own publications on themes central to the action. Some take on the task of acting as Safer Internet Ambassadors. Others are consulted in response to queries from the Consortium and the European network and contribute to consolidating the European Youth platform.

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 Italian SIC regularly collaborates with private organisations and public bodies to create campaigns aimed at young people on civic engagement in the digital world. Its Youth Panel group comprises 40 young people from all over Italy. These kids support the SIC in producing video campaigns created by kids for their peers.
• The Ministry of Education has several formally established bodies to promote youth involvement in decision-making processes. The National Council of Presidents of Cosulta (CNPC) is established within the Presidential Decree 567/96. The provincial student council is also an institutional body on a provincial basis. It comprises two students from each upper secondary school in the province, elected directly by their classmates.
• Children are actively involved in designing policies related to their participation in the digital environment. The structures designed to include children and young people are the Youth Panel under the Safer Internet Centre and the National Centre for Fighting Against Child Pornography on the Internet (Ital. acronym: CNCPO) for school consultation. The first one is designed to meet policymakers, institutions, authorities, and information and communication technology (ICT) industries to directly discuss how to improve the internet from the youth's perspective.
• The CNCPO represent coordination and representation at a national level, through the national council, where students have the opportunity to exchange information, devise integrated projects, discuss common problems and engage with the Ministry of Education, formulating solutions and proposals. 

Inclusivity

• The SIC coordinates three national awareness campaigns each year aimed at young people and children to raise awareness of the problems and potential of the Internet. Furthermore, all private organisations and public institutions carry out awareness-raising activities in collaboration with the Ministry of Education in schools throughout the national territory. Campaigns include the Vita da Social campaign, the Estate in Rete campaign, the il mese della Sicurezza campaign, and the Back to School campaign.

Digital creativity

• The Privacy Authority, the Communications Authority, the Children's Authority, and the Ministry of Education, as coordinator of the Italian SIC, are all committed to promoting positive digital content and services for children.
  During the national Campaign, all service providers, schools, and organisations are invited to send their positive projects to spread them around Italy. Each year, the Ministry of Education promotes a competition for schools to encourage children's digital creativity and to promote creative uses of digital technologies.

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

BIK+ index 2024: Italy

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 Italy 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.