Better Internet for Kids

The annual Safer Internet Forum is dedicated to initiatives related to developing digital skills for children, parents and teachers, while also paying attention to the needs of vulnerable children.

The theme of SIF this year is 'Where's the harm? Protecting children and young people against inappropriate content and bullying online'. As with every SIF, participants will hear from policymakers, researchers, law enforcement bodies, parents and caregivers, teachers, NGOs, industry representatives, experts and other relevant actors. Youth will also be given a platform to voice their experiences, concerns and ideas. This year, once again, young people have been actively involved in the planning, preparation and delivery of SIF 2024.

Also launched today is the Age Assurance toolkit designed for families to learn together how to better protect minors online and to better understand why age assurance is so important. 

To kick off the event, Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourova, will be joined by by Evin Incir, a Member of the European Parliament and June Lowery-Kingston from the European Commission. The discussion will be moderated by SIF Youth Advisory Group (SIF YAG) members, Dónal and Sanya. 

Professor Debbie Ging from Dublin City University will then present the keynote presentation: Young people’s exposure to harmful content and behaviour online. Following that session will be a panel discussion chaired by two SIF YAG members, Diya and João. The panel will discuss the topic 'Online harms – finding the balance between protection and empowerment'. Sitting on the panel will be Professor Debbie Ging, MEP Evin Incir, Renate Nikolay from the European Commission, Karen McAuley from Coimisiún na Meán, Justine Atlan from Association e-Enfance/3018, and Constantin Gissler from Dot Europe.

The youth-led workshops will then be introduced by SIF YAG member, Vincent. During these workshops, BIK Youth Panellists will draw upon their own experience to present several priorities they see for the projection of minors against online harm.

During the lunch break, participants will be able to enjoy the SIF photobooth with various props showcasing the new SID mascot, Ally. 

• After lunch, participants will make their way to the deep dive session they chose at registration. The topics of the onsite sessions are:
• Pornographic sexual content (including AI-generated) and its impact on young people (desensitisation, objectification, misogyny, and so on).
• How do young people experience hateful content online (e.g. misogyny, racism, homophobia) and what impact is it having?
• Cyberbullying: reluctance to report and why reporting matters.
• Young people’s exposure to violent and aggressive content online – normalising the extreme? 
• Potentially harmful peer sexual conduct online – is it “hot” or should they not? 
• Disarm the (self-)harm in online peer communities (e.g. suicide, anorexia, humiliation).
• Screen time and persuasive design – who's behind the ban? 

Online participants will have the opportunity to participate in panel discussions, covering key problems and solutions, across the most important forms of potentially harmful content, contact, conduct and contract.

For the closing keynote and panel session, Professor Jessica Piotrowski from the University of Amsterdam will lead the discussion on how to foster children’s and young people’s mental health and well-being online and act against cyberbullying. She will be joined by Nel Broothaerts from Child Focus, Maria João Horta from the Portuguese Ministry of Education, Professor Ersilia Menesini from the University of Florence, and Liise - a SIF Youth Advisory Group member. The session will be chaired by Manuela Martra, from the European Commission. 

In this final session, participants will hear from Professor Jessica Piotrowski about the key actions and tools we need to better safeguard and foster children’s and young people’s mental health and well-being in a digital world.

For more information about Safer Internet Forum 2024, visit our website; outputs will progressively be added over time, and you can also learn more about past editions of SIF at the same location. 

Make sure to follow #SIF2024 on social media for news from the day.