Better Internet for Kids

CyberGuard 2025 in Zagreb

As part of European Cybersecurity Month, the Croatian Safer Internet Centre and A1 Croatia hosted CyberGuard 2025 for the second year in a row. The conference brought together leading national and international experts to address key challenges in cybersecurity, online safety, and child protection.

Guests from the Insafe and INHOPE networks, including representatives of Child Focus, the Internet Watch Foundation, and other international partners, highlighted the importance of cross-border collaboration. Their message was clear: online risks evolve quickly, and only a coordinated, multi-sector response can keep children protected in a digital world where threats are increasingly complex and global.

Cyber Security Conference (CSC) 2025 in Osijek

Just a week later, Osijek gathered over 200 professionals from social welfare, education, psychology, social work, and cybersecurity. CSC 2025 focused on real-life challenges faced by children today, especially online harassment, cyberbullying, and situations where a trusted adult makes all the difference.

One message resonated strongly throughout the event: 

“You might be the only person a child reaches out to - so let’s be that person they needed growing up.”  

Both October conferences underscored an essential truth: adults must be present in children’s digital spaces. We cannot remain silent observers while online risks grow; instead, we must join children in their digital world and help create a safer, kinder online environment. 

“Happy childhood – together against abuse” in Split  

The final event of the season marked the first anniversary of the Split office of the Croatian Safer Internet Centre. The conference brought together Croatian and international experts to discuss peer violence, online and offline abuse, digital exploitation trends, and the urgent need for cooperation between institutions.

In the past year, the Split office alone reached more than 1,000 children and over 800 professionals and parents through school visits, workshops, and trainings, illustrating the growing need for digital safety education in Croatia. 
Speakers from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and other partners highlighted worrisome global trends, particularly the rapid increase in online exploitation and AI-enabled abuse.

Across all discussions, one theme was clear: violence is increasing, risks are emerging earlier, and the need for system-wide prevention and support is stronger than ever. With more children exposed to cyberbullying, grooming, extortion and harmful content, professionals across sectors require specialised training - a need that the Centre continues to address by expanding its activities and presence across the country. 

A shared mission for the future

Together, the conferences in Zagreb, Osijek and Split showed how united action across borders, sectors and communities can make a real difference. As digital threats grow, so does the responsibility to protect every child. The Croatian Safer Internet Centre remains committed to expanding support, strengthening cooperation and ensuring that every child grows up in a digital environment that is safer, warmer, and free from violence. 

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