The Lithuanian Safer Internet Centre (SIC) exists to promote a safer and better use of the internet and mobile technologies among children and young people. The SIC is developing and expanding a national platform while maintaining three main safer internet services: an awareness centre, helpline and hotline. Read on to learn more about its work on highlighting safer internet policy in the country.

Facilitating a dialogue on safe internet policy

In September 2025, the coordinator of the Lithuanian SIC, LINESA, organised an online conference “Safer internet policy: How to improve the teaching process”. The event provided a space for dialogue between policymakers, school principals, education specialists, supervisors, teachers and international experts. The main goal of the event was to increase awareness of the Digital Services Act (DSA) as well as the BIK+ strategy, shedding light how these important policy documents can impact the teaching process.

The internet: opportunities and threats

Member of the Lithuanian Parliament, Jekaterina Rojaka, opened the event with some statistics signifying the growing importance of the internet. It was emphasised that almost all Lithuanian families with children have internet access, which means constant presence in the digital space. Alongside opportunities for creativity, learning, and communication, this space also poses new risks, from bullying and privacy violations to psychological pressure and manipulation by algorithms. Furthermore, statistically, more young women and girls experience online risks than men and boys. Those in vulnerable backgrounds should not be forgotten either.

It was noted that legal measures alone will not solve these challenges – the involvement of parents, schools, and communities is essential. The participants agreed with a quote of President von der Leyen when delivering the State of the Union (SOTEU) 2025 annual address to the European Parliament: "Children should be raised by parents, not algorithms".

Europe strives for a better internet for kids (and young adults)

Karl Hopwood, a representative of the Insafe network of Safer Internet Centres in Europe, presented the European Commission’s Better Internet for Kids (BIK+) strategy and gave an overview of the most pressing problems that children and young people face online. The BIK+ strategy brings together all EU Safer Internet Centres (SICs) with the common aim of striving to keep children and young people safe online through a range of actions and initiatives.

The BIK+ strategy is founded on three core pillars: safe digital experiences, digital empowerment, and active participation. The first pillar ensures "safety by design" – age-appropriate services, content removal mechanisms, and reliable reporting channels – much of which is later covered within the Digital Services Act. The second pillar concerns media literacy and the ability of parents and educators to recognise threats. The third pillar concerns the voice of children: their right to be heard when deciding what a safe internet should look like.

In his speech, Karl Hopwood presented the latest data of the BIK Policy monitor; offers a comprehensive annual review of the implementation of BIK+ strategy across EU Member States, Iceland and Norway. From the latest review, most problems arise on social networks, with a rapid increase in so-called sextortion (sexual extortion in online spaces) cases and deceptive images (deepfakes) created by artificial intelligence (AI). In a newly emerging trend, children are using AI companions for emotional support. However, these tools often provide misleading or even harmful advice, while some companions are designed for children over 13 and some only for adults.

Fundamentally, the BIK+ strategy recommends that educational institutions pay more attention to digital literacy and peer-to-peer learning. As Karl Hopwood pointed out, "children need to have a place where they can talk about what they see online without fear of punishment".

Experiences from SIC Italy: young people as agents of change

Representatives from the Italian Safer Internet Centre, Barbara D’Ippolito and Giuliano De Luca, introduced their SIC’s practices for implementing the DSA and engaging young people: hybrid sessions, discussions with representatives from Meta, Google, and TikTok, and debate forums at the 2025 Safer Internet Day (SID) conference. The speakers emphasised that real protection for children and adolescents begins when young people themselves become active participants, rather than just passive recipients of policies.

Much cyberbullying happens in the context of schools. Even though it can happen at any place or time, school communities are now connected not only when they are physically in school but all the time, which creates a grey zone of who should be responsible for cyberbullying. Italian schools have a cyberbullying referral system in place: each school appoints a person responsible for responding to cases of digital violence. Content that could cause harm must be removed within 48 hours. In addition, monitoring committees are set up, involving school administrators, teachers, students, and parents.

In addition to that, a programme is already being tested in selected Italian schools that, similarly to the cyberbullying policy, mandates a person knowledgeable about the Digital Services Act in these schools. Teachers or staff familiar with the DSA inform children and young people about the possibility of reporting violations of the DSA and how to better understand their rights.

In summary, the speakers emphasised that besides the responsible adults, one of the most important aspects is peer-to-peer education: when peers speak, the audience listens differently. This experience is also being applied in Lithuania by the Draugiškas Internetas (Friendly Internet, the Lithuanian Safer Internet Centre) project, whose young ambassadors visit schools to talk to students about bullying, manipulation, and critical thinking.

Digital Services Act: responsibility for platforms  

The last session speaker was Anželika Banevičienė, a law researcher from Mykolas Romeris University. She thoroughly covered how the DSA will change the lives of young people, as well as suggestions on how to present it wider public.

The DSA is a regulation adopted by the European Commission to control the influence of online content on society. Under the DSA, platforms that reach more than 10 per cent of the EU population (or more than 45 million people) are referred to as Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs). The DSA sets standards for how these online platforms should handle content, advertising, user rights clarification, and reporting harmful information. It ensures that all EU countries apply the same standards and that large technology companies are held accountable for content safety on their platforms.

Under the DSA, smaller service providers are subject to basic requirements, while large platforms (such as Google, Meta, TikTok, Amazon) are subject to comprehensive systemic risk assessments. They must regularly review how their activities affect consumer rights, child protection, and data privacy.

Particular attention was paid to Article 28 of the DSA, which regulates child safety. Platforms must ensure default safe settings, reporting mechanisms that are understandable to children and young people, and algorithms that do not encourage addiction.

The European Commission is testing an age verification blueprint that allows platforms to determine the age of users without collecting excessive data. "It is not enough to simply say that the service is 'not intended for minors'—platforms must actively ensure the protection of children," emphasised the law researcher Anželika Banevičienė.  

One real-life example is the TikTok Lite reward program, which the Commission banned in the European Union due to possible violations in the area of child protection.

Challenges and solutions in the education sector  

The participants in the discussion said that new EU policies will only be meaningful when they are applied in practice; in schools, municipalities, and families. One suggestion was to develop clear response protocols to help teachers and parents respond quickly to cases of violence or privacy violations.

Psychologist Agnė Stankevičiūtė emphasised that children who are victims of cyberbullying are often left to deal with the situation on their own. Schools need clear procedures, approved by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, that define "who gets involved in the assistance process and when".

Liudas Mikalkevičius, coordinator of the Lithuanian Safer Internet Centre, presented plans to strengthen cooperation with schools, involving the Youth Ambassadors programme and academic partners. This issue should not be addressed in a fragmented manner. As he stated, "child protection on the internet should not be just a campaign, but an inseparable part of the culture of education”.

Conclusions

European-level policies – the BIK+ strategy and the DSA – set clear standards, but it is up to all members of society to ensure that they translate into real protection for children. Article 28 of the DSA as well as the BIK+ strategy which provide for "safety by design," refers not only to technical requirements but also to the ethical obligation to create an environment in which children can learn and grow without fear. The most important thing is to maintain a balance between freedom and security: technology cannot be a child's nanny, and the digital world cannot be their only teacher.

The Safer Internet Centre in Lithuania ("Friendly Internet") is a project co-funded by the EU. The content expressed during this event was the personal opinions of the speakers and participants and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Economy Executive Agency (HaDEA). Neither the European Union nor HaDEA can be held responsible for the content of the event or this article.

Interested in learning more about the DSA?  

Explore the DSA for YOUth toolkit to learn how the Digital Services Act (DSA) protects minors by design. There, you will find a family-friendly booklet explaining the DSA guidelines on what online platforms should do to keep kids and teens safe online, easy-to-read explainers, a quiz, and other resources.  

Interested in learning more about activities in Lithuania?

Find more information about the work of the Lithuanian Safer Internet Centre, including its awareness raising, helpline, hotline, and youth participation services – or find similar information for Safer Internet Centres throughout Europe.