Insafe Weekly Update

The guidelines aim to support platforms accessible by minors in ensuring a high level of privacy, safety, and security for children, as required by DSA, outlining a non-exhaustive list of measures that all platforms, with the exception of micro and small enterprises, can implement to protect minors, using a default approach that is guided by privacy by design.

The guidelines adopt the same risk-based approach that underpins the DSA, recognising that different platforms pose varying levels of risks to minors. This ensures that platforms can tailor their measures to their specific services, avoiding undue restrictions on children’s rights to participation, information, and freedom of expression.

The draft guidelines are open for final public feedback until the extended deadline of midnight on Sunday, 15 June 2025. The Commission is seeking contributions from all stakeholders, including children, parents and guardians, national authorities, online platform providers, and experts. The publication of the guidelines is expected by the summer of 2025.

SICs are encouraged to also share this information with their own contacts and networks.

In the framework of the new BIK Phase 6 project, we are continuing to convene a number of working groups and invite members of the network to sign up to participate. We are aiming for a broad representation from across the network in each WG in terms of geographic spread and areas of work represented (i.e. awareness, helpline or youth participation). Please indicate which group(s) you would like to be part of in the online survey by the close of business on Friday, 13 June 2025. We will confirm membership once we have reviewed all responses to ensure that we have the best representation across all groups.
 
Available working groups are as follows (further information on the scope of each working group is included in the online survey):

• Governance Working Group (GWG)
• Knowledge Management Working Group (KMWG)
• Helpline Working Group (HLWG)
• Assessment Working Group (AWG)
• Youth Participation Working Group (YPWG)
• Safer Internet Day Working Group (SID WG)

Please note: if you are an existing WG member and would like to remain as such, please reconfirm this via the survey also.

In case of questions on the process, please contact Karl in the first instance.

EC colleagues recently met with PEReN, the French ‘Center of expertise for digital platform regulation’. 

PEReN is a French interdepartmental government office with national competence placed under the joint authority of the French Ministers of Economy, Culture and Digital Technology (find more information here). PEReN is working on a study (to be finalised by the end of June 2025) on the subject of parental control tools, focusing specifically on the relationship between parents and their children regarding children’s smartphone usage.

The EC has already shared the available resources regarding parental control tools on the BIK public portal and agreed to share this more specific study angle and related questions with the Safer Internet Centre network.

Should your SIC have interesting information to share on this topic, please contact Sarah and Tom of PEReN directly (sarah.cocher@peren.gouv.fr and tom.houriez@peren.gouv.fr), keeping Rima (EUN) and Elwira (EC CNECT.G3) in copy for awareness.

The next Insafe training meeting will take place online on the mornings of 14, 15 and 16 October 2025; the meeting will run from 10:00 CEST until 13:00 CEST on all three mornings. Further information will be shared in the coming weeks, but please already save the dates in your calendars. For further information, please contact Karl.

Colleagues at the European Commission are keen to hear from any SICs who are working with 7-10-year-olds. This is to inform a study on the DSA, which seeks to include the perspective of this age group. If you have a mechanism to be able to share views from this age group, please contact Karl. 

Many thanks to those who attended the recent online meeting with Apple. A report from the meeting is available in the BIK community (login required). For further information, please contact Karl.

The next helpline early warning meeting will be held on Wednesday, 18 June 2025, at 11:00 CEST; join the meeting using this link. Please contact Karl for further information.

The next early warning meeting for awareness centres will take place on Monday, 30 June 2025, at 11:00 CEST; use this link to join the meeting. Please contact Karl for any further information.

There will be an online meeting with colleagues from Sony on Thursday, 3 July 2025 at 14:00 CEST. The meeting will provide an opportunity to hear about Sony’s work on online safety and how their systems work. There will also be an opportunity for questions and discussion. Join the meeting using this link. If you have any specific questions or suggestions for areas you would like them to focus on, please contact Karl.

The latest edition of EUN's Agile Collection of Information examines how European education systems are addressing the well-being of students and teachers in increasingly digital learning environments. It highlights examples of how well-being is embedded in national curricula, teacher training, and policy strategies. The report offers practical insights and inspiration to help educators foster safe, inclusive, and supportive digital spaces for both their students and themselves.

As digital technologies become increasingly central to teaching and learning, education authorities are taking steps to promote healthy digital habits, reduce risks such as cyberbullying and screen overuse, and support safe and inclusive online learning environments. While some countries embed digital well-being in broader strategies, others are developing dedicated policies, often in collaboration with researchers, NGOs, and schools. Training for teachers and national monitoring efforts are also expanding, though implementation still varies widely across systems.

This report by European Schoolnet explores how 20 education systems across Europe are addressing well-being in increasingly digital school environments. It provides an overview of national policies, curriculum integration, teacher training, and monitoring mechanisms designed to support the mental, physical, and emotional well-being of students and educators.

Access the report from the European Schoolnet website.

Mobile phones offer opportunities for creativity, communication, and learning, but their presence in schools raises concerns about their impact on pupil attention, distraction, well-being, and social interaction. Research indicates a strong correlation between digital distraction and learning outcomes. The long-term effects of excessive screen time on children’s brain development, particularly during vulnerable developmental periods, are also being scrutinised.

In response to these concerns, several countries have introduced (or are considering) mobile phone bans, restrictions or other actions in schools. However, the debate remains complex. Some argue that when used responsibly, mobile phones can be valuable tools for pupils.

The European School Education Platform (ESEP) has recently published the results of a survey on mobile phone use in schools.

Additionally, ESEP will host a webinar on smartphones at school, titled "Separating Myths from Evidence," on Thursday, 12 June 2025, at 16:00 CEST. Find out more and register here.

Furthermore, an online tutorial titled "Rethinking Classroom Smartphone Use: The Kaleidoscope in Your Pocket" has also recently been launched.

We are delighted to open the call for youth participation in this year's Safer Internet Forum, taking place in Brussels, Belgium, in December 2025.

As before, we are issuing two separate calls for the BIK Youth Panel and the SIF Youth Advisory Group (YAG). Please note that, in line with the requirements of the new BIK project phase, there are some changes to the youth participant nomination processes. As such, please ensure that you read and follow the detailed application process for the respective strand(s) you are interested in:

•  BIK Youth Panel – open to youth associated with all Insafe network member countries (excluding the UK).
  Find further details, including information on the application process for the BIK Youth Panel, here.
  
  
• SIF Youth Advisory Group (YAG) – open to BIK Youth Ambassadors associated with the EC co-funded SICs only. Find further details, including information on the application process for the SIF YAG, here.

The deadline for applications is the close of business on Friday, 20 June 2025. For further information, please contact Sabrina or Chiara.

The next edition of the BIK bulletin will be published at the end of June 2025, with news on the recently published BIK+ strategy evaluation and Policy monitor report. As always, we also invite Safer Internet Centres (and their partners) to contribute with general articles on news, resources or events. The content deadline is the close of business on Wednesday, 18 June 2025. All contributions or queries should be addressed to content@betterinternetforkids.eu.

As a reminder, we generally suggest that articles should be 300 - 600 words in length (but longer focus pieces are fine too), along with copyright-cleared images/photographs/logos if appropriate (please note, we cannot accept AI-generated images). The BIK team reserves the right to edit contributions for house style etc., but we try to keep this to a minimum.

Access the full BIK news article archive here.

Please contact the BIK content mailbox with any article submissions or in case of any queries.

Latest (login first):

• Apple - online meeting June 2025
• 2025 Nationwide Survey on Children’s Online Habits in Greece: Challenges in implementing the DSA (SIC GR)

Various other reports from online meetings for awareness centres and helplines are now available in the BIK community.

Need help with the BIK platform?
Please refer to the BIK platform user guides for support with regular tasks (such as resource and helpline case study uploads).

Alternatively, we are happy to schedule short online support calls at any time. Please use the contact form on the BIK platform or contact the BIK support mailbox in the first instance, and we will schedule a call at a mutually convenient time.

Please note the updated URLs for the new BIK platform:

• Better Internet for Kids (BIK):
  better-internet-for-kids. europa.eu; #BIK; #BIKbulletin
• BIK strategy (BIK+):
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/bik/bik-plus-strategy; #BIKplus
• Safer Internet Forum (SIF):
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/sif; #SIF2024; #SIF2025; #SaferInternetForum
• BIK Knowledge hub:
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/knowledge-hub; #BIKPolicyMap
• BIK Youth:
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/bik-youth; #BIKyouth; #Pledge2Youth
• Safer Internet Day (SID):
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/saferinternetday; #SaferInternetDay; #SID2025; #SID2026
• Media literacy campaign:
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/media-smart-online; #MediaSmartOnline
• Child and youth consumer protection campaign:
  better-internet-for-kids.europa.eu/en/adwiseonline; #AdWiseOnline
• Project Facebook profiles:
  Insafe, Safer Internet Day, Insafe network closed Facebook group, INHOPE
• Project X (formerly Twitter) profiles:
  @insafenetwork; @safeinternetday; @BIK_youth; @inhope_pr
• Project LinkedIn profile:
  Better Internet for Kids