Better Internet for Kids

Today, another edition of the bi-annual Insafe Training meeting kicks off. The event is an opportunity for the Insafe network of European Safer Internet Centres (SICs) to meet to facilitate the sharing of experiences and good practices across the Insafe network. The October 2025 Insafe Training meeting is held online, and includes three mornings of sessions discussing the guidelines on the protection of minors online under the DSA, the Action plan against cyberbullying, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and, in particular, AI companions by children and young people.

In Ireland, the Digital Citizenship Champions Conference marked the fourth and final workshop in the Webwise Digital Citizenship Champions Programme. The event brought together participating teachers, and online safety stakeholders, to explore strategies for engaging and supporting parents and guardians in guiding children toward responsible digital citizenship.

The DSA for YOUth campaign runs from 10 October to 7 November 2025 and focuses on raising public awareness and understanding of the guidelines on the protection of minors under the Digital Services Act (DSA), as well as the approach to age verification and age assurance.

The National Cybersecurity Authority and the Institute of Computer Science of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH) join forces through the Greek Safer Internet Centre to enhance the digital safety of citizens.

Across the first two quarters of 2025, European Commission co-funded hotlines submitted data to the Insafe INHOPE Assessment Platform. Hotlines received a combined total of more than 3.6 million reports in this six-month period. This represents a sustained upward trend from the start of the year, reflecting both the growing visibility of reporting mechanisms and the expanding reach of hotlines across Europe.

The Insafe network of helplines collects data about the calls received, and this is analysed every three months in order to look at possible trends and emerging issues.

With the start of the new school year, the Greek Safer Internet Centre presents a new comprehensive package of educational material aimed at students of all levels, parents, and educators.

The European Commission is actively working to combat online child sexual abuse, including sexual extortion. Sexual extortion is the blackmailing of a person with the use of sexualised images of that person in order to extort sexual acts or material, money, or other benefits from them under the threat of sharing the material without the consent of the depicted person (for example, posting images on social media).

A survey conducted in spring 2025 by the Slovenian Safer Internet Centre at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Ljubljana showed that generative artificial intelligence tools are already used by most pupils in the third triad of primary school (aged 12-15), and by most secondary school students. They are most often used for schoolwork, and to research topics that interest them.

AI applications and deepfakes have become a significant part of our everyday lives. That is why the German Awareness Centre klicksafe aims to empower young people, parents and educational professionals to deal with AI and deepfakes with this year's BackToSchool campaign. The campaign runs throughout September and offers new materials and tips for educational practice. One highlight of the campaign will be the klicksafe school lesson on 1 October, which can be streamed by schools nationwide.