Better Internet for Kids

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.

How can we introduce digital safety with children in a way that feels fun and engaging? In Sweden, the Safer Internet Centre and the Swedish Agency for the Media (awareness centre) have joined forces with Story House Egmont to create a unique themed issue of the beloved comic book Donald Duck, focusing entirely on children’s online safety.

On 16 September, Directorate General for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture, and Sport held a youth policy dialogue on cyberbullying to exchange views and hear the perspectives and priorities of young people on how the European Union can develop an action plan against cyberbullying. Participants addressed key issues and provided recommendations to help the European Union tackle cyberbullying.

The study "Safe internet use and parents" conducted by the Centre for Social Informatics at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Ljubljana in the summer of 2024 shows that a significant proportion of Slovenian parents do not adhere to professional recommendations regarding the age at which children should access the internet, and the extent of daily internet use.