Better Internet for Kids

Every child using the internet deserves a safe experience and easy access to online safety and protection resources. An estimated 240 million children worldwide (one in every ten children) live with disabilities, according to data released by UNICEF. Out of these, more than 120 million children are active online. Unfortunately, the existing digital safeguards, educational resources and reporting systems were not designed to appropriately support and protect those with disabilities.

ChatGPT is particularly popular among students. By integrating the chatbot service as "My AI" in Snapchat, access is now even easier, and the AI has become a constant companion on the smartphone.

As part of the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) Quality Assurance Programme (QAP), the Insafe-INHOPE Coordination Teams are jointly conducting a set of fourteen country visits to national Safer Internet Centres (SICs) to better understand what is happening in the Member States: monitoring emerging issues and challenges, identifying good practices to be shared, and harvesting the results of the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) policy. On 30-31 March 2023, an online cluster meeting with the Portuguese and Spanish SICs was organised by the Insafe-INHOPE Coordination Team.

iSIGURT.al, the national platform for a safe internet in Albania, which also functions as the national line for children's internet safety, is a national service established by CRCA/ECPAT Albania in 2015. It has as its main mission the reporting and removal of harmful materials on the internet, social networks and online media that contain sexual violence against children and adolescents, bullying and extreme violence against children and young people, as well as the language of hate crimes.

Deepfake videos have not only become one of the most effective tools of misinformation, but they also pose a significant problem for women and underage girls, who are either at risk or have already been victims of non-consensual pornography.

As part of the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) Quality Assurance Programme (QAP), the Insafe-INHOPE Coordination Teams are jointly conducting a set of fourteen country visits to national Safer Internet Centres (SICs) to better understand what is happening in the Member States: monitoring emerging issues and challenges, identifying good practices to be shared, and harvesting the results of the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) policy. On 9-10 March 2023, an in-person cluster meeting with the Bulgarian and Romanian SICs was organised by the Insafe-INHOPE Coordination Team.

The 18th Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Kyoto, Japan which took place from 8 to 12 October 2023, marked a pivotal moment in the world of online governance. Hosted by the Japanese Government, our BIK Youth Ambassador highlights his active role in this event.

In Nigeria, Safer Internet Day 2023 was celebrated with a series of panels discussing some among the most pressing safer internet issues. The goal of the activities of the day was to to create awareness for a safer internet, where everyone has the ability to utilise technology responsibly, politely, critically, and creatively. 95 students from seven schools, along with 50 teachers, parents, and media and government agencies participated in the event.

From 4 to 6 May, 40 young people between the ages of 14 and 18, from all over Italy, participated in training activities and debates at Palazzo D'Avalos in Procida. Read on for a recap of the main highlights.

On 7 February 2023, for the 20th time, more than 180 countries from all continents, including Bulgaria, celebrated Safer Internet Day under the motto "Together for a better internet". The main event to mark the observance in Bulgaria was organised by the National Centre for Safe Internet and included an online discussion dedicated to the topic "Screen time and its impact".