Better Internet for Kids

A new study on online behaviour and the challenges faced by Austrian children and youth on social networks shows a competent use and a conscious online presence.

Every year, the Austrian Safer Internet Centre collects data on the social media use of Austrian children and youth. Which social networks do young people in Austria use? Which platforms are trending, and which ones have become less popular? The results are published in the Youth Internet Monitor.

As part of the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) Quality Assurance Programme (QAP), the Insafe-INHOPE Coordination Teams are jointly conducting a set of ten 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. Due to the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a visit planned to the Polish Safer Internet Centre had to be converted into an online meeting that took place on 9 September 2020, bringing together a group of diverse stakeholders and SIC consortium partners.

As part of the Better Internet for Kids (BIK) Quality Assurance Programme (QAP), the Insafe-INHOPE Coordination Teams are jointly conducting a set of ten 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. Due to the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, a visit planned to the Cyprus Safer Internet Centre had to be converted into an online meeting that took place on 3 December 2020, bringing together a group of diverse stakeholders and SIC consortium partners.

During Portugal’s Presidency of the European Union, the Portuguese media regulator IGAC has officially recognised PEGI as the age rating system for video games, following the implementation of a decree that regulates the authorisation of video game distribution in Portugal.

BEE SECURE (an initiative of the Luxembourgish Safer Internet Centre) recently published its 2020 annual report. This edition marks the initiative's tenth anniversary and provides an overview of a year full of activities, most of which took place online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Insafe network of helplines collects data about the types of calls received and this is analysed every three months to look at trends, and new and emerging issues. The most recent helpline data covers the period from January to March 2021 and, once again, there has been an increase in the number of contacts made to the helplines. The current reporting period saw almost 17,400 contacts: an increase of almost nine per cent on the previous quarter.

In June 2021, a new massive open online course (MOOC) “Cidadão CiberSocial” (Cyber-social citizen) was launched and made available to Portuguese citizens by the Portuguese Safer Internet Centre. The course provides best practices and guidelines for the safe use of social media, to improve cybersecurity and help ensure user privacy.

Internet Sans Crainte, the awareness-raising node of the French Safer Internet Centre, has recently adopted a strategy of producing co-constructed and adaptive resources on online safety. This approach is in direct response to an observed need to promote more in-depth consultation and dialogue within families, resulting in coherent and sustainable rules for technology use which children themselves have contributed to.

Slovenian paediatricians are increasingly encountering children and adolescents who have developed various difficulties due to the inappropriate use of devices with screens. Preschool children stand out especially, as they seem to be particularly affected by premature and prolonged exposure to screens.